By day’s end after the Tuesday, August 8 mayoral primary, the totals were in: Rick Osbon received 1,506 (42.61%) of the votes cast; Teddy Milner received 1,070 (29.3%); and Kathryn Wade received 1,026 (28.09%). The processes that led to those numbers were less exacting.

In the afterglow of a primary that left nearly 72% of City of Aiken voters happy enough to see their candidate facing a runoff instead of defeat, there may be a tendency to leave well enough alone, however, “happy enough” may not describe the mood by day’s end on August 22, should the same snafus riddle the runoff. The accidental disenfranchisement of even one voter is one voter too many.

To understand how to get it right for the August 22 runoff, it is necessary to look at what went wrong in the August 8 primary election.

What Went Wrong

Throughout the day on Tuesday, stories were repeated across social media and in emails to the Aiken Chronicles about malfunctioning machines, spoiled ballots, and confusion among both voters and poll workers over polling locations.

Much of the confusion was due to (1) the temporary changes in polling locations for the mayoral primary, and/or (2) inadequate notification of this information to the public.

As a result, some voters didn’t get word on the new polling locations. Other voters went to the correct polling locations, but were erroneously sent away to a different location by the poll workers. Some voters left the polls unsure if their votes would be counted. At least one voter left the polls without voting at all.

Some of the comments from these voters can be read here. The publication of these comments is not to engage gratuitous grumbling, but to document that these incidents occurred and, more importantly, to understand how to avoid these same problems on August 22.

How to Get it Right

Precinct vs. Polling Location

Unless you’ve moved to a different address since the last election, your precinct will be the unchanged from the last time you voted. Your polling location, however, may be temporarily changed for the mayoral election.

Find your precinct by looking on your SC Voter Registration card or by plugging in your information to this MySCvotes, which will produce a result similar to the image below, only with your unique information.

Once you confirm your precinct information, you’re ready to consult the chart, below, to find your polling location for the mayoral election.

Where to vote

Early voters. All early voters go to the Aiken County Government Building at 1930 University Parkway. Early voting will be held between 8:30-5:00 on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday of this week, (August 16-18). As with the August 8 primary, Democrats and Republicans alike can vote in the runoff election.

Runoff Election Day voters . Voters headed to the polls for the Tuesday, August 22 runoff will go to the polling locations for their precinct as listed on the chart below. Voting hours are 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m.

Click image below for full-size view.

Possible snafus

Machine malfunctions and spoiled ballots can happen in any election and can cause delays. According to Aiken County Registration and Elections Director, Cynthia Holland, voters can be assured that their vote was counted by looking at the voting machine screen at the end of the voting process. The message on the screen should read something along the lines of, “Thank you for voting. Your ballot has been counted.”

Should this message not appear, voters should bring this to the attention of a poll worker. If there is still a problem, voters can call the Aiken County Election office at 803-642-2028.

Getting redirected by pollworkers to a different polling location: Double-check your precinct and polling locations, per the above chart. If you’re certain you are in the correct location, stay put and ask the poll worker to please consult their election materials. If there is still a question, call the Aiken County Elections office at 803-642-2082.

Voters in polling locations with multiple precincts, such as Odell Weeks, may run a higher risk of being erroneously redirected to another address, when they may only need to be directed across the hall.

For example: If, according to the chart above, you are in 66 Hitchcock, your temporary new polling location for the mayoral election is Odell Weeks. If a poll worker redirects you to, say, St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, you’ll want to ask them to please double-check their information and, if necessary, call the County Elections office at 803-642-2082 for confirmation.

Other issues: For any other issues not listed here, voters can call the Aiken County Elections Office.

NOTE: Corrections to the information in this article are appreciated and will be promptly updated.