South Carolina Primary 2022 elections: Here are live results
The Greenville News is providing this important election news free as a public service. Remember, your subscriptions allow us to provide this sort of content, and we ask that you consider buying a subscription to The News.
Statewide races, Greenville County Council and other elected offices are holding primaries on June 14.
Check back here for up-to-date results in all the Greenville area elections as the polls close Tuesday night.
LIVE RESULTS: Click here to get race-by-race updates from Greenville area elections
As of Tuesday afternoon, around 21,000 people had cast ballots in Greenville County, according to Greenville County Elections Director Conway Belangia.
"If that trend holds, we'll have about 10 to 12 percent voter turnout today."
Belangia also said that a dozen of the county’s 500 ballot marking devices malfunctioned Tuesday morning.
“We only have one place where it's actually slowed things down tremendously, but the majority is in pretty good shape,” he said.
Belangia said they were working as quickly as possible to troubleshoot at that one precinct, Kilgore Farms at Gilder Creek Farm Clubhouse in Simpsonville. Other than that, everything was going smoothly, he said.
At Dunean Baptist Church, 65 people had cast ballots by around 1 p.m., poll worker Sharon Cochran said. The precinct had trouble with one of its two machines this morning and the second was starting to act up, too, she said while dialing county support. The machine wouldn’t take a voter’s ballot, she said.
Greenville County voters weigh in on what brought them to the polls
At E. North Street Academy, five people had voted by 7:30 a.m. Voter Barbara Bishop said she was focused on the gubernatorial race and liked how Gov. Henry McMaster had seen the state through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Judy Leonhardt said she showed up to vote today because she feels like it’s one of the few freedoms we have left. “We don’t have a lot (of freedoms) left but we do have that one.”
County resident John Vassar cast his vote around 1:15 p.m. and said he came to vote based on issues like inflation, the supply chain, border security and government overreach.
U.S. Postal Service retirees Rita Anderson and Keith Dill, both of Greer, said they vote in every election. Keith, a veteran, is concerned about the direction the country is headed.
“I’ve got grandkids and all I want them to do is grow up in a country like I got to grow up in, to have the same opportunities that I had, in this greatest country in the world,” he said. “There’s no other country in the world I’d rather live in than right here.”
Leroy Allen, a 44-year-old maintenance manager who was the 22nd person to vote at Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Greer, said he's always going to exercise the right to vote given "the history of how we got here."
"People died, got beat up and different things during history. So just for the fact of the sacrifices and energy that was put into us getting us (the right) to vote, I'm gonna vote. I was just raised that way," he said.
As far as his thoughts on the political climate, Allen said, "that's a tricky question."
"Basically, for Black people, I feel like we're damned if we do, we're damned if we don't. Republicans really don't fit our interests. Democrats get in there, give us whatever they want to give us, and they don't really listen to us."
Allen said he would encourage others to go cast their ballots before arriving to vote himself.
"A lot of people aren't voting because they don't trust the voting system, he said, "And, unfortunately, a lot of us, since slavery, we're too easy to be tricked by the agendas of others."
Lizzie Robinson, an avid voter, had encouraged her daughter, Annette Robinson, to come with her to the polls. Lizzie Robinson said for her, voting was "a habit."
"I can't afford to say anything if I don't vote," she said.
Lizzie Robinson said she was seeking candidates who would focus on the community and would focus on bettering schools.
Small but 'steady flow' of voters show up to Greenville County precincts
The precinct at Heritage Bible Church, on Greenville’s Eastside, surpassed 200 voters after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Poll clerk Brian Baughman said there have been no issues with delays in voting. At the most, they’ve had three to four people waiting in line, he said. The voter turnout, he said, is about 8%.
By about 12:30 p.m., 95 people had voted at Overbrook Baptist Church.
At Duncan Chapel Elementary School, 61 voters cast their ballots by 9 a.m. then a surge of 200 more voters had cast their ballots as of 12:30 p.m. One machine had a technical issue when polls opened at 7 a.m. but the problem was quickly resolved, poll workers said.
Longtime resident Lynn Byrd said, like most, she’s just doing her civic duty by voting.
Poll manager Barbara Haley said she is expecting a surge of more voters after the work hours.
Travelers Rest City Hall had 81 voters as of 10 a.m.
William Koehler, poll clerk at the precinct housed in the Greer Recreation Center on Tryon Street, said six people had been in to vote by 7:30 a.m. Tuesday. He called it a “steady flow” and said so far, they’ve had no problems at all.At the West Greenville Community Center precinct, poll worker Rosa Byrd said they had a steady stream of people since the first person cast their vote at 7:05 a.m. She expects the normal bump at noon and after 5 p.m., she said.
Sixty residents cast their votes by 9 a.m. at Armstrong Elementary School on White Horse Road, poll worker Aisha Thomas said.
A line of four people were waiting to vote at at 6:54 a.m. Tuesday at Praise Cathedral in Greer.
Our team of reporters will continue to provide updates from voting precincts throughout Greenville, and you can find complete results tonight on greenvilleonline.com.
Here's what you need to know before you vote:
2022 voter guide
Here's who is running for US Congress and Senate
Here's who is running for countywide offices in Greenville County
Who is running for statewide offices in South Carolina?
Here are candidates running for SC House seats in the Upstate
SC House District 25: Hotly contested Greenville election has crowded field in rare Democratic primary
Where to vote
Here's the list of precincts for Greenville County
To find your individual polling place using your name and birthdate, visit scvotes.gov.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina primary 2022: Live updates from Greenville County
