After monitoring the 866-OUR-VOTE hotline for every election since 2008, we are happy to report that this election was the hands-down winner so far. The hotline received less than 25% of the calls in past midterm elections.
This general election is the first time everyone voted on new machines and signed in on the new poll books. These machines are what the SC Progressive Network advocated for over the past 14 years. They are simple devices that are not connected to the internet and do not tabulate votes, but do produce a hard copy ballot of the voter’s choices that is scanned before the voter leaves the precinct.
The recurring problem of curbside voting for disability access was our primary target this election. We are gratified to report that it appears the counties got the memo. The new machines were less expensive, more available, and installed on rollers that improved drive-in voting for the mobility impaired.
That’s not to say there weren’t problems. Most confounding were the few calls from voters in Charleston, Horry, and Florence counties regarding straight-party selections. Voters choosing to vote for all candidates of a particular party saw their votes go to another party. Democratic straight-tickets choices in Charleston and Florence were assigned to Libertarians. Republicans’ choices in Horry converted to the United Citizens Party. The random results of the switching indicated a glitch in the screen calibration, not a poor attempt to steal an election.
As dark was descending Tuesday, a lone but loud acolyte of the Lost Tribe of Stolen Elections was escorted out of the Richland County Board of Election office by security. (See video captured by EP volunteer Chris Gardner.) It was one of only three such incidents reported to the hotline.
More than 94% of the calls were from confused and/or cynical voters and a few ill-informed poll workers. The rest were the usual reports of voting machine glitches and changes to voting locations that frustrated some voters.
The anti-partisan SC Progressive Network’s Education Fund will do a forensic autopsy of the results of the hotline calls after Friday’s certification of the votes. We encourage volunteers to attend the certification hearings at 11am Friday at their county election offices.
At our monthly meeting on Thursday night, we will unpack the election results in South Carolina and talk about its implications. Volunteers will share their experiences in the field, and offer suggestions to improve our election protection work ahead of the next cycle.
Join us on Thursday at 7pm in person at our HQ at 1340 Elmwood Ave., downtown Columbia or online. To register on Zoom, click HERE.