After weeks of heated debates, voting for the Florence District One Schools $198 million referendum is complete. People got the chance to vote at 40 precinct locations around the area. In order to vote, individuals needed to be registered, to live in the school district and to bring identification.
The polls opened at 7 a.m. and closed at 7 p.m. tonight. According to Director of the Florence County Voter Registration Elections Commission, David Alford, the unofficial results could be announced by 8:30 p.m. Tuesday night.
Lines at the polls were not as busy as anticipated, Alford said.
“You never see a large scale election like this, with the office this quiet, so that’s a good sign. That’s a sign that everything is going pretty smooth and the poll workers are handling situations just fine.”
There were about 250 poll workers out making sure the process ran smoothly. So far, no major issues were reported. A large number of voters submitted an absentee vote ahead of time. In fact, there were over 2800 absentee votes put in by 5 o’clock on Monday.
If the referendum is passed, it will fund four new schools, bring security improvements and new athletic facilities for all three high schools. But, it will also raise property taxes for people in the district.
One voter said the main goal is just making sure your voice is heard.
“It’s just important to determine what is going to happen whether you vote yes or no, you just need to vote and let your voice be heard, and also do something going forward after this vote,” said Rachel Garrett.