2 weeks Ago
Aiken County's voter turnout nearly reached 75% in this year's election. According to the South Carolina Election Commission, 84,078 of Aiken County's 113,203 registered voters cast ballots, equaling a voter turnout of 74.27%.
Aiken County's voter turnout was the highest since 2008 — Democrat Barack Obama defeated Republican John McCain nationally — when 77.26% of the county's 91,284 registered voters cast ballots. Since 2008, Aiken County's turnout during presidential election has stayed between 68%-69% according to the South Carolina Election Commission.
S.C. Rep.
Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, attributed the increased turnout to changes made in South Carolina's election laws between the 2020 and 2024 presidential election years that "make it easy to vote, hard to cheat." After former (and soon to be) President Donald Trump questioned the integrity of several states' elections in 2020, many conservative states implemented new laws that cleaned up voter rolls and required signatures and identification verification at the polls. Parts of Aiken County could receive up to six inches of rain Wednesday Part of the changes included establishing a two-week early voting period ahead of primary and general elections.
Over 52,400 Aiken County voters cast ballots during the two-week early voting period representing over 62% of the total votes cast in the election. Aiken County offered four early voting locations this year: the election office, H. Odell Weeks Activities Center, the North Augusta Community Center and Roy Warner Park near Wagener.
Donald Trump receives highest Aiken County presidential vote percentage since 2012 The Aiken County election office — 1930 University Parkway — was the busiest early voting location. Over 19,000 people voted there. Over 16,000 people voted at the North Augusta Community Center, over 14,000 people voted at the Weeks center and over 2,500 people voted at Roy Warner Park.
The busiest early voting day was Friday, Oct. 25, when 5,074 people voted. The increased voter turnout did not lead to major problems with the county's election.
Tom Young Jr., Shane Massey, Brad Hutto to represent Aiken County in the South Carolina Senate Neither Aiken County Republican Party Chairwoman Debbie Epling nor Aiken County Democratic Party Chairwoman Cherise d'Abadie said they knew of major voting issues Tuesday afternoon. There were a few minor issues but they were resulted quickly, Epling added.
Aiken County Election Director Dana Burden did not return a phone call seeking comment on the conduct of the election. Straight-party votes constituted a majority of the votes cast. Specifically, 27,019 voters cast straight Republican ballots and 15,374 voters cast straight Democratic ballots.
An additional 323 voters cast straight ballots for third parties. The United Citizens Party received 131 of those. The only candidates running under these banners were presidential.
The presidential race between Republican Donald Trump — he received over 62% of the votes in Aiken County — and Vice President Kamala Harris received the most votes, 83,525. Other than water and soil district races, the race with the least number of votes was the uncontested Aiken County Council District 4 race , 7,264. The contested race with the least number of votes was the House District 82 race won by incumbent Democrat Bill Clyburn , 7,637 votes.
This district also includes northern Edgefield and southern Saluda counties. At over 68%, Republican Charlie Hartz, the winner in House District 81 , received the highest percentage of the vote for a candidate in a contested race. At 31.
81%, Democrat Jensen Jennings, Hartz's opponent, received the lowest percentage of the vote in a contested race. Republicans U.S.
Rep. Joe Wilson, S.C.
Sen. Tom Young, Marty Sawyer and Sharon Carter also ran ahead of Trump. Democrats Clyburn and Aiken County Councilwoman P.
K. Hightower ran ahead of Harris. Anderson Pond 69 (87.
21%), South Creek 89 (84.76%), Gem Lakes 60 (84.54%), Cedar Creek 64 (83.
25%) and Gem Lakes 77 (82.87%) were the precincts with the highest turnout. All five of these precincts are on Aiken's Southside.
White Pond (32.56%), Community 86 (45.1%) and Breezy 87 (45.
25%) were the only precincts in which turnout didn't eclipse 50% of registered voters. White Pond is in far eastern Aiken County, north of the Savannah River Site. Community 86 and Breezy 87 are two of Aiken County's newest precincts and both are in the Midland Valley area.
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