COLUMBIA, S.C. — More South Carolinians voted in Tuesday’s governor election than in any gubernatorial contest in at least three decades, and the share of registered voters who took part also set a new high for a governor’s race, the State Election Commission said.
The commission reported two records falling before polls closed. By 4:30 p.m., 1,797,335 ballots had been cast, about 52.3% of registered voters, which already beat the prior total-vote mark of 1,726,527 set in the 2018 governor election.
The percentage record went next. At 6 p.m. the count reached 1,927,488, or 56% of registered voters, passing the 54.6% turnout recorded in the 2002 governor election. That was with an hour of voting still to go.
After the last ballots were tallied, the unofficial statewide count landed close to 2.1 million voters, or about six in 10 of those registered. Early voting also hit a record for a gubernatorial year, with more than 1 million people casting ballots during the no-excuse early period.
Interest was high with no incumbent on the governor ballot and a close race for a U.S. Senate seat drawing attention from both parties.
Governor elections still draw well below presidential years. The commission noted that the strongest presidential turnout in the last 30 years was 76%, in 2008.
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