Eager to be first to vote, Richland County man camps out for start of absentee voting
One Richland County voter is on a mission to be the first to vote in the 2020 election.
Shigeharu Kobayashi is so ready to vote this year, he plans to camp out next to the county elections and voter registration office overnight Sunday to ensure he’s the first person to cast a ballot when in-person absentee voting starts on Monday.
“I’ll be out there during the day all through the weekend, though,” he said on the Twitter account dedicated to documenting his weekend wait. “But if the lining up energy gets to be extra exciting and it looks like I need to spend more than one night, well I’m down for that.”
The first tweet sent from the @1stVoter account includes a photo of a lawn chair next to the voter registration sign at 2020 Hampton Street with balloons attached to it. It was taken Thursday night as Kobayashi began his vigil, which he plans to broadcast on Twitter and Instagram.
The plan came partly from memories of waiting for hours to ensure he got into an early movie screening or got tickets to a big concert, the Columbia resident said.
“I have a nostalgia for waiting in lines,” said Kobayashi, who goes by “Shige” or “shiggy.”
But the stunt is almost meant to promote the start of voting in the 2020 election. Kobayashi said he’s already been contacted by people making similar efforts elsewhere in South Carolina and beyond, and plans to share their updates on social media so people know the rules and opportunities for voting where they live.
The web campaign comes as the deadline to register to vote in South Carolina is this weekend. Voters will then be able to vote at their county registration office each weekday until the election on Nov. 3. Some counties will also offer other voting locations and weekend hours.
Voters can also vote absentee by mail. The S.C. Legislature has waived the requirement that voters offer a reason for voting absentee due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a requirement to get a witness signature for mail-in ballots is still tied up in the courts, after a federal appeals court issued dueling rulings on whether the requirement would be enforced.
Kobayashi said he plans to be in front of the registration office most of the weekend, waving to passing traffic along Harden Street. A friend at Columbia’s If Art Gallery even said they would bring a piece of artwork for him to contemplate during the wait.
Kobayashi said he isn’t deterred by the days between when he set up his chair and when the election office opens on Monday.
“I know from experience that some authority figure might come and tell you to move along,” he said. “But I’ll try to keep (social media) updated.”
This story was originally published October 2, 2020 at 3:19 PM.
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