With potentially more than 1,000 votes yet to be counted, Union County saw record votes and record voter turnout in this year’s election.
According to officials at the Union County Board of Elections, 32,927 ballots were cast and counted in the 2020 general election. That represents about 80% of the county’s 41,429 registered voters.
And while the voter turnout was record-setting, polling places were steady, but not overrun. Board of election information indicates 24,125 voters cast their ballot either by mail or early in-person at the board of elections office.
Officials from the Union County Board of Elections said there are 392 potential absentee ballots out and 680 provisional ballots.
Brandon Clay, director of the Union County Board of Elections, said it is likely that not all the absentee ballots will come in and not all the provisional ballots will be proper.
Officials said they were not surprised by the number of early votes cast.
“I think there was a huge push this year, because of the pandemic, to get people to vote early to lessen the number of people at polling locations,” LaRoche said.
She said the board does the same amount of work to set up polling locations, regardless of how many people are expected to vote on election day. She said early voters cast ballots at the board of elections office meaning there is more work for office staff.
“We put a lot more work in at the office upfront,” LaRoche said. “We were busier, but election day was easier at the polls.”
Clay and LaRoche say they feel early voting is here to stay. Officials said that voters may have been reluctant at first, but now that they have voted early, they will continue.
“I personally believe that some people know how easy it is to vote absentee, they are aware of the hours, they can do it at home and, it’s my personal opinion, that people will do it more often,” LaRoche said.
Officials said election day voting and counting went very smoothly.
Clay said there was a small issue with vote scanners at one polling location. He explained the problem was not with the scanner, but with the outlet it was plugged into. The outlet where the equipment was plugged in was not working so the scanner was draining reserve battery power.
“It was a pretty easy fix when we figured it out,” Clay said. “They just moved the extension cord.”
Once the machine was plugged into an outlet that worked, the ballots were scanned.
Clay said the board office will be open each of the next seven days for people to fix any issues that may have occurred on a mail-in or provisional ballot. The board of elections contacts anyone who’s ballot needs “cured” to be counted.
“We will be processing all those provisional ballots, examining them and getting them ready for the official canvas,” Clay said.
The ballot totals will not be finalized until the official canvas on Nov. 16. Clay said that there are no races that would trigger a recount locally.