While the interest was great and the enthusiasm was high to learn of the election results on Tuesday night, that same enthusiasm did not spill over into actually voting in the run-off on Tuesday.
Voter statistics show that the turnout was depressingly low without even one precinct reaching 50 percent of the registered voters actually voting. Only a handful of precincts had voter turnout 40 percent or higher. Those precincts were East Dillon with 47.39 percent, Pleasant Hill with 40.71 percent, Bermuda with 42.8 percent, and Minturn with 43.01 percent. Most of the other precincts were in the 30 percent range, and the lowest turnout was in Oak Grove with 20.33 percent, Carolina with 24.63 percent, New Holly with 25.55 percent, Fork with 29.12 percent, and Latta with 29.3 percent.
While the COVID-19 pandemic may have had an impact on who actually went out to the polls, every voter in the county and state had the unprecedented opportunity to vote absentee. It was an easy process to get an absentee ballot and have it mailed to your home or to go to the Voter Registration Office to awoid crowds and long lines to vote. More people should have taken advantage of it.
We have another election coming up in November. Perhaps the enthusiasm shown by those who waited outside the Voter Registration Office on Tuesday night will inspire those who didn’t get out and vote and who didn’t request an absentee ballot, to vote in November.
Voting is a sacred privilege, and those who are eligible to take advantage of it should make their voices heard.