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.
My experience is that the number of voting errors is very, very small. There certainly were some that went to the wrong place including, at least one I am aware of, who went to the incorrect polling place intentionally. However, it is true that the biggest problems are poor turn-out and poorly informed voters. Some showed up not having a clue what the ballot looked like. And, unless you get the paper, there was no effort to inform voters. Many had no clue who was running and many had no clue who was permitted to vote in the primary. In my prior state, every voter was sent a sample ballot prior to the election. It is inexcusable that SC no longer requires that.
Those operating the political machinery in Aiken are encouraged by the pitifully low voter participation in the mayoral election. This voter “dereliction of duty” virtually guarantees that the incumbent will remain on the throne. Furthermore, sometimes — as described in Ms. Lance’s excellent and helpful article — additional effort on the part of the voter is required to make sure that his/her vote is actually cast.
The current City administration has bumbled and fumbled in so many important ways, including casually wasting a whole lot of taxpayer-supplied money. We need a new and improved mayor, and the right person for the job is Teddy Milner.
The cynical idea that a citizen’s vote doesn’t matter is exactly what the bad actors want you to believe. They want you to give up, now! As citizens it is our duty to not allow ourselves to fall prey to their nefarious propaganda and self-serving actions. Voting is among a citizen’s preeminent responsibilities.
“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. Every election is determined by the people who show up. The vote is precious. It is the most powerful non-violent tool we have in a democratic society, and we must use it. When we vote, we take back our power to choose, to speak up, and to stand with those who support us and each other. “
Thank you for this report. I assumed that there would be problems because of the polling location shuffles, and am sorry to hear that wasn’t the only issue. Of course, the fact that a mere 16% of registered voters bothered to use the only voice most of us have to shape our futures nags as the biggest concern to me.
Regarding the poll place shuffle – that the city did not notify all registered voters of the location changes (by text or email) is unacceptable. Also, I understood that the idea was to consolidate voting locations in consideration of an expected low turnout, so I was baffled to find that while we were shifted to a new location, others were shifted to our usual location. Yeesh.
Thank you for the clarification !
You all offer such great service to Aiken. Thank you.