SC voters torn at the polls as ballots cast in 2020 Democratic primary election
South Carolina voters on Saturday were making calculated decisions about who should get their vote in the last Democratic presidential primary before Super Tuesday.
Voting at Columbia’s Greenview Park, one of the capital city’s more active Democratic precincts, Paul Stroman said he preferred businessman Tom Steyer, but he voted for former Vice President Joe Biden because he thought Barack Obama’s former vice president would be a stronger candidate in the general election.
In Columbia’s Rosewood, Martin Izett voted for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, of Vermont, but said he would have supported Michael Bloomberg “tactically” if the billionaire former New York City mayor had been on the ballot, “because he will spend so much money.”
Some voters were still torn as they headed to the polls. In Forest Hills, Richard Moss voted for Biden because his top concern is beating President Donald Trump in November.
“A lot of what Sanders says is too pie in the sky,” Moss said. “I think we’d lose the House because Trump will pile on calling him a socialist.”
Rowan Leach voted for U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, but said she would be ready to vote for Sanders, her husband’s choice in the primary.
“We’re liberals,” she said, waving away concerns about the Vermont senator’s ability to win in November. “If Bernie had been the nominee in 2016, I really think he would have beaten Trump.”
Jonathan Blake, 30, of Columbia, voted for Bernie Sanders, believing “he’s a good candidate to beat a certain individual,” Blake said.
He made his decision Friday night, as Warren was his second choice. Blake doesn’t buy the argument Sanders won’t be successful in November or will not help down ballot candidates.
“They said the same thing about that other guy who’s in office,” Blake said. “They said he couldn’t win.”
But Carly Rice voted for Amy Klobuchar because she was concerned about how a candidate would do in November’s general election.
“I would like for the Democratic nominee to win,” Rice said. “I think a more moderate candidate would be more electable by the general electorate.”
Turnout was steady in many areas on Tuesday, while absentee ballots far exceeded the total S.C. voters turned in for 2016, when Sanders faced Hillary Clinton.
State Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire report that 75,209 absentee primary ballots have been returned as of early Saturday morning, with the possibility for more ballots to be returned before polls closed at 7 p.m.
In 2016, only 54,186 ballots were returned.
By midday, Greenview had nearly 300 votes cast, close to the 578 who voted in the 2016 Democratic presidential primary for a turnout of 31% that year. South Beltline had 183, nearly as many as the 187 who voted four years ago with several hours still to go. Meanwhile, Bluff Road had 381, compared to 639 in 2016.
South Carolina closed or moved 130 precincts prior to Saturday’s vote, something that confused some voters and got heat on social media the day of the primary. Whitmire said the changes were planned months in advance due to the unavailability of some precincts for the day of the poll.
“That’s why it’s important for voters to check” online to the locations of their precincts, Whitmire said.
Saturday’s steady turnout may represent the wide range of choices Democrats have this year, with seven candidates on the ballot. Beverly Izett, Martin’s wife, voted for the 38-year-old former Mayor Pete Buttigieg because of her concern that Biden, Sanders and Trump are all in their 70s.
“I’m tired of old white men,” Beverly Izett said. “I’d prefer somebody young and female, but I’ll settle for young and gay.”
At polling locations throughout Beaufort County, turnout also was steady.
In the lobby of Buckwalter Recreation Complex in a growing area of Bluffton, people streamed through the door to vote or grab a seat at the youth basketball tournament in the same building.
About 30 people had lined up outside the door before polls opened where residents of four precincts vote.
“Which amazed us on a Saturday,” poll clerk Nancy Allen said. “We were expecting that on a weekday when there’s people going to work, but not so much on a Saturday.”
In northern Beaufort County, almost 100 people had voted at Charles Lind Brown Activity Center and its three downtown Beaufort precincts just before 9 a.m.
Pigeon Point neighborhood resident David Townsend, 64, said he appreciated the paper record generated by the new voting machines.
“If there’s a question, an issue, a problem, you open the machine up and count them all by hand,” he said. “That’s a good thing.”
‘If you’ve got a voice, use it’
Precincts were active in York County, just south of Charlotte, and voters there were making up their minds, too.
Turnout across York County in the Upstate was steady Saturday, said Beth Covington, spokesperson for the county Office of Voter Registration and Elections.
Around 8 a.m., there was a line of voters outside the Rock Hill City Hall precinct. And by noon, nearly 200 people had cast their ballots there in the presidential primary.
Louise Smith and Ella Mae Davis, both in their 60s, were smiling as they walked out of City Hall Saturday morning. They wore “I Voted” stickers. Smith held hands with 2-year-old A’shari Simmons. She also wore a sticker.
“Say, ‘We voted,’” Smith told A’shari. She threw her arms up and mumbled the words as best she could.
“A long time ago, people did some things in order for us to be able to vote,” Davis said. “And I think if you’ve got a voice, use it.”
“Who’d you vote for?” Davis leaned down and asked A’shari, who held a baby doll under her arm. “The good president?”
“The good president,” A’shari said quietly.
People strolled in and out of City Hall every few minutes Saturday. The makeup of the precinct is predominantly African American and generally has had a high voter turnout in Democratic primaries.
“African Americans are very important to the Democratic Party,” Bo Williamson, 49, said. “We play a big part and of course you stick your chest out, knowing that you have that power.”
Williamson had trouble deciding between the seven Democratic candidates on the ballot in South Carolina.
“This has been one of the toughest decisions presidentially that we’ve had to make,” he said. “It’s a very important decision. But at the end of the day, no matter who becomes the candidate to go against Trump, we have no choice but to support them.”
Going for ‘authentic’
Melaysia Moore, 18, went to the polls in Bucksport, a historically African American neighborhood in Horry County, with her grandmother, Gwendolyn Moore-Mishoe. The 2020 election will be the first she’s voted in.
For Moore, she didn’t decide who to vote for until she got to the polls but took her responsibility to be an informed citizen seriously. She decided on Tom Steyer because she believed he is authentic and has a strong work ethic.
“I gotta have someone who is authentic,” she said. “And he seemed dedicated.”
Moore’s grandmother voted for Joe Biden, but also considered supporting Michael Bloomberg, who wasn’t on Saturday’s ballot.
Ultimately Moore-Mishoe, who likes to vote for a mix of Republicans and Democrats, thinks whoever gets the nomination needs to unite the country and work with both parties to bring needed change.
“I believe the person needs to take charge,” Moore-Mishoe said.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 7:01 PM.
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