York County’s 2026 primary turnout rocketed to highest level in at least 2 decades
More than 42,000 York County voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s primary election, pushing turnout to its highest level in at least two decades and nearly doubling participation from the state’s last midterm primary in 2022.
According to South Carolina Election Commission data, 42,512 of York County’s 190,099 registered voters cast ballots in the primary, resulting in a turnout rate of 22.36%. That’s up from 11.13% turnout in the 2022 statewide primary and the largest number of ballots cast in a York County midterm primary in at least two decades. Political observers point to a combination of record early voting, a crowded governor’s race and months of debate over congressional redistricting as possible factors behind the unusually high participation.
Neighboring Lancaster County also saw a significant increase in participation. The county recorded 15,456 ballots cast among 69,982 registered voters, resulting in 22.09% turnout. In 2022, Lancaster County’s turnout was 12.96%.
Statewide, South Carolina recorded 855,370 ballots cast among 3.38 million registered voters for a turnout rate of 25.28%. Four years ago, statewide turnout was 17.05%.
The surge came after weeks of unusually intense political activity leading up to the election, including a crowded Republican gubernatorial primary, a competitive attorney general race and a high-profile debate over congressional redistricting that dominated state political news as voting began.
York County voters also had a hometown candidate on the statewide ballot: U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, a Rock Hill Republican. Though Norman will not advance to the runoff, he garnered more votes in York County than any other gubernatorial candidate.
“This seems to be one of the highest (turnouts) in recent memory. People were passionate about this,” said Winthrop University politics professor Scott Huffmon. “Part of that is the obvious reason... Our congressman was in the mix.
Huffmon noted that turnout in York County exceeded participation seen during the 2010 Republican primary, when former Gov. Nikki Haley emerged from a crowded Tea Party-era contest that attracted national attention. It also surpassed the roughly 20% turnout recorded in 2018 when Gov. Henry McMaster was seeking his first full term and Republican voters were energized by South Carolina’s first statewide election after President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory.
Huffmon said several high-profile statewide races helped keep voters engaged. The Republican governor’s race featured a crowded field of candidates and drew significant attention and sharp attacks between contenders. Combined with President Donald Trump’s involvement in several South Carolina endorsements, those top-of-the-ballot contests likely helped drive voter interest.
While turnout was strong on Election Day, early voting also played a major role.
South Carolina voters cast more than 319,000 early ballots before Tuesday’s election, including 12,528 in York County and 6,570 in Lancaster County – another record.
Huffmon pointed to the congressional redistricting debate as one factor that may have helped drive early participation.
Despite the surge in participation, local voters largely reaffirmed the status quo. In York and Lancaster counties, incumbent Republican and Democratic candidates defeated challengers in every contested legislative and county council primary race Tuesday night.
Looking ahead, Huffmon said the high participation could be an early sign of strong voter engagement heading into November’s general election. Democrats are “fired up” to take control of Congress, while Republicans are expected to mount their own turnout efforts to maintain their majorities, Huffmon said.
“Nationally we’re going to see a strong, strong push for turnout,” Huffmon said. “I think this is going to be one of the higher off-year election turnouts.”
