How and why York County residents are voting absentee like never before
Mary Barnett sat in the back seat of an old Lexus. She waited in the parking lot last week of the Fort Mill absentee voting site, in the formerly-known Banks Street Gym. Her car’s windows were down, letting in a slight breeze on the unusually hot October afternoon.
The voting site had been open only two days and the line of voters extended far outside the building and into the parking lot. By 3 p.m., more than 350 voters had cast their ballots there.
After several minutes of waiting, election officials carried a voting machine out to Barnett’s car. She leaned her head out the window to reach the machine better. She took her time, and within minutes, she had voted in the 2020 election.
Barnett is 94.
The York County elections office opened two satellite offices in Fort Mill and Rock Hill last week to accommodate the influx of absentee voters this election and better serve the two most populated areas of the county.
Less than two weeks after absentee in-person voting began in the state and days after the two extension offices opened, a total of about 7,000 people have cast absentee ballots in person between the three York County sites, Beth Covington, spokesperson for the the county elections office, told The Herald.
And between absentee by-mail and in-person, so far, the office has recorded nearly 40,000 absentee applications, marking a county record for absentee ballots cast in any election.
“We are currently well beyond what we have had in absentee ballots for the entire election in the past,” Covington said. “And we have about 2.5ish weeks left to go.”
Typically, in order to vote absentee, South Carolina voters need to meet certain qualifications, but on Sept. 16, Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill giving all voters in the state the option of absentee voting because of COVID-19.
In the first week, nearly 5,000 people had cast their ballots at the county elections office in York. In three days, about 1,700 voted at the Fort Mill location, and at the Rock Hill office, about 600 cast their ballots on the office’s opening day.
“We are happy to see people are using the absentee option and casting their ballots,” Covington said. “We just want to make sure people are voting if they want to vote in this election.”
In the 2016 election, a little more than 115,200 ballots were cast in the county, and less than 30,000 of those were absentee ballots, according to data from the South Carolina Election Commission. The county has about 185,000 registered voters, according to the election’s office.
At all three locations, the line to vote stretched outside the building. Election officials worked to get people through the line quickly, but some ended up waiting 45 minutes to an hour. But there was a consensus among those who waited — it’s worth it.
“Everybody 18 or older should be voting this year,” Rev. Ina Harris, Barnett’s daughter, said. “Our country is in a crisis and it’s not a Democratic or Republican crisis. It’s a human rights crisis.”
Harris waited in the Fort Mill line for about 45 minutes to vote, while her mom sat in the car with another family member.
“She was determined to come today and vote,” Harris said. “She has witnessed the suffering of people and it’s a disgrace when you have relatives that age cry because of the way man is treated. I don’t care what side of the railroad track you live on. People should be treated equally.”
After Barnett finished voting, she sat back in the car and smiled.
“It’s right for me to vote,” Barnett said. “No matter how old I get, it’s the right thing to do. You’re free to do it, so just do it.”
A few feet away, Barbara Amicucci, waited in line to vote with her neighbor. So far, she had waited about 15 minutes. She estimated the whole ordeal would take about 30, but she said the opening of the Fort Mill site made it easier for her to vote this year.
“It’s wonderful there’s so many people are out voting,” Amicucci, 77, said. “This is probably the biggest vote in a century.”
Her neighbor, who’d been standing next to her while she waited in line, chimed in and laughed: “And we don’t know if we’ll be here in November.”
Where to vote absentee?
York County residents can vote in person and drop off absentee by-mail ballots at the York County elections office, at 6 South Congress Street in York.
The Fort Mill extension office is open at the Fort Mill Community Center, 1011 Talbot Street. The Rock Hill office is open at the Rock Hill Operations Office, 757 South Anderson Road. The office hours are on the county election’s office website.
This story was originally published October 20, 2020 at 8:08 AM.
