South Carolina could be on track to see high turnout on November 6 for the midterm election. A count of voter registration numbers show a number higher than usual.
The SC Election Commission says the agency has seen an increase in voter registration numbers which could be attributed to a few factors.
Chris Whitmire with SCEC broke down the numbers the agency is seeing. “In 2014, during that period, the total number of voters increased by 43,000. This year during that same period the total number has increased by 91,000.”
In the last 4 months, voter registration numbers have grown twice as fast as in the last gubernatorial election in 2014.
One reason for this increase is the extension to the registration deadline. Another reason is the involvement of social media.
“Everyone’s news feed had a reminder. ‘Are you registered to vote?’ ‘Do you need to register to vote? Click here.’ That wasn’t going on in 2014,” added Whitmire.
Will Swiderski, a South Carolina voter, was impressed by the numbers. He says the politics has been very visible in the past few years as well.
“I definitely think politics has kind of gone to the forefront of everything nowadays,” said Swiderski.
The SC Election Commission says the agency has also seen a 60% increase in the number of absentee ballots issued.
“Each year more and more people are voting absentee instead of going to the polls. So in 2018, we would expect to see more absentee voters than we did in 2014, but a 60 percent increase…?”
For the first time, the commission also sent out close to 1 million direct mailings to residents who were eligible to vote but hadn’t registered.
Find out everything you need to know for Tuesday, November 6th HERE.
