New Precincts Await Spartanburg County Voters

Voters in Spartanburg County have more than candidates to consider as they prepare to cast ballots on Tuesday.

In hopes of avoiding the long lines that caused voter frustration last November, the county created six new polling places, carving them out of ten existing precincts, mostly in the fast-growing Boiling Springs area.

“We’re taking steps now to make it easier to where we don’t have a repeat of 2008,“ said Spartanburg County Elections Director Henry Laye.

Last November, six-thousand people turned out to cast ballots at Boiling Springs High School, overwhelming poll workers and creating massive lines. Some people waited in line for up to six hours and many left frustrated before they could reach the polls.
“We had unprecedented growth in that precinct and it got oversized,“ said Laye.

The county now has 98 precincts, up from 92 last year. The new polling places are: Boiling Springs Elementary School, Boiling Springs 9th Grade Campus, Boiling Springs Intermediate, Chapman Elementary, Mountain View Baptist, and Ben Avon Methodist.

Roughly 28,000 voters - or 18% of registered voters in the county - are affected by the changes. The elections office mailed out new voter identification cards to those affected, but Laye knows that does not guarantee voters will note the change.

“We know some people by habit are going to say, ‘well, it’s just another voter registration card and I’ll go vote where I always do’, and that’s going to make people mad to show up when they’ve got to go to a different precinct,“ said Laye.

He said he urges voters to examine their new cards and look at the address of their precinct. He said his office has already fielded a few complaints, mostly from people upset that the change requires them to drive further to the polls.

“Hopefully the extra distance you may have to drive will be far offset by the shorter time you stand in line to vote,“ said Laye.

All 98 precincts in Spartanburg County will open Tuesday at 7:00am, closing at 7:00pm. Given that this is an odd-year election, Laye said 60% voter turnout “would be considered high”. He said he has 400 poll workers staffing the precincts, which he believes will be “more than enough” based on expected turnout.

To see the races and get polling information in your county, click here.

Click play on the video display above to watch Chris Cato’s interview with Laye.