'It met expectations.' Penny tax vote boosts Spartanburg County election voter turnout.

The penny tax referendum boosted voter turnout for Tuesday's election in Spartanburg County, surpassing turnouts of other recent off-year elections, according to Elections Director John Baucom.

Tuesday's turnout was 17.85%, Baucom. said. A total of 34,833 ballots were cast out of 195,384 registered voters in Spartanburg County. Of that, 30,672 ballots were cast in person on Election Day; 3,745 in early voting; and 416 by absentee mail.

The turnout easily surpassed the turnout of 10% for the last off-year election in 2021 when 20,896 ballots were cast out of 208,643 registered voters.

It also beat the 2017 municipal election turnout of 15% when the first penny sales tax referendum was on the ballot and passed by a margin of 62% to 38%, according to Baucom.

Baucom said he was pleased with Tuesday's turnout.

"It met expectations," he said.

Penny tax brings Spartanburg County voters to the polls

The penny tax referendum was the main reason for the larger-than-expected turnout. By a margin of 55.34% to 44.66%, voters approved a continuation of the 1-cent sales tax to pay for $478 million in fixes to hundreds of roads, bridges and intersections.

Yes votes won in 70 of the county's 112 precincts, while there were 42 precincts where the no-votes won. The yes vote won in most of the precincts in and near the city of Spartanburg, while most of the precincts where no-votes won were in more rural areas of the county.

Here are the 42 precincts where the no-votes won: Lake Bowen Baptist, Cooley Springs Baptist, Landrum High School, Cavins Hobbysville, Cherokee Springs Fire Station, Cowpens, Enoree River, Cross Anchor Fire Station, Fairforest Elementary, Enoree First Baptist, Clifton Glendale, Gramling Methodist, Holly Springs Baptist, Landrum United Methodist, Lyman, Mayo Elementary, Motlow Creek Baptist, Swofford Career Center.

Also, Pauline Glenn Springs Elementary, Reidville Elementary, Victor Mill Methodist, Mt. Calvary Presbyterian, Whitlock Junior High, Oakland Elementary, Carlisle Fosters Grove, Palmetto, Beech Springs Intermediate, Greater St. James, Bethany Wesleyan, Boiling Springs Elementary, Carlisle Wesleyan, Chesnee Elementary, Silverhill Memorial UMC, Canaan, Duncan United Methodist, D.R. Middle School, Lyman Elementary, Apalache Baptist, Rainbow, Holly Springs Motlow, New Prospect, Lake Cooley.

In addition to the penny tax for roads referendum passing and Spartanburg City Councilwoman Ruth Littlejohn winning re-election, several school board and municipal races in the county were decided Tuesday, according to unofficial results.

Winners of municipal elections in Spartanburg County

The municipal election winners, according to unofficial results, are:

➤ Cowpens mayor, Jarred Spencer, unopposed; Cowpens Town Council, Lesa Bolin and Erin Wofford.

➤ Inman mayor, Cornelius Huff; Inman City Council, Kevin Newman and Heather Moore.

➤ Wellford mayor, Pat Watson; Wellford City Council, Paige Bain, Glenna Faye Holcombe.

➤ Woodruff mayor, Kenneth E. Gist; Woodruff City Council, Ward 1, Mattie Norman, unopposed; Woodruff City Council, Ward 3, William E. Arnold, unopposed; Woodruff City Council, Ward 5, Charon Adkins Kelley, unopposed.

➤ Greer mayor, Rick Danner, unopposed; Greer City Council District 1, Jay Arrowood, unopposed; Greer City Council District 3, Mark Hopper; Greer Commissioner of Public Works, Perry J. Williams, unopposed.

➤ Chesnee City Council, Lauren Uldrick Dove and Vertie M. Crawford.

➤ Landrum City Council, Robert Farmer, Shannon D. Dotson and Warren Ashmore.

➤ Pacolet Town Council District 2, Richard E. Brackins; Pacolet Town Council District 4, Thomas Williams; Pacolet Town Council District 5, April Palmer-Green, unopposed.

➤ Reidville Town Council Ward 3, Justin Beardsley, unopposed; Reidville Town Council Ward 4, James A. Richard.

➤ Campobello Town Council, Alician C. Sprouse and Joe McDowell, unopposed.

➤ Duncan Town Council, Calvin Cowen and Todd Fowler.

➤ Lyman Town Council, David Petty, Rebecca Martin and Jack Bellaire.

➤ Central Pacolet Town Council, there were 26 write-in votes for two council seats. Chris Arnold received eight write-in votes, which constitutes a majority for one of the seats. There will be a runoff on Nov. 21 between Susan Bennett, with six write-in votes, and Stacy Vrooman with five write-in votes, for the other seat, according to Baucom.

Bob Montgomery covers Spartanburg County politics and growth & development. Reach him via email at bob.montgomery@shj.com.

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: Penny sales tax yes votes won in 70 precincts. No votes won in 42.