Droves of voters have voted, will vote

The 2008 presidential election, with Sen. Barack Obama bidding to become the first African-American president, will be historic here for another reason, too — voter turnout.

Suzanne Turner, chairman of the Cherokee County Election Commission, said she expects voter turnout to reach an all-time high.

"This will probably be the largest (voter turnout) Cherokee County has ever seen," she said, adding that both man and machine are ready for the onslaught.

"We're ready for the day," she said. "The machines are ready and the poll workers are trained."

She said there have been 14 training classes to prepare the poll workers for the precedent-setting election.

The Cherokee County Voter Registration Office also has been bustling.

Approximately 850 registered voters have cast absentee ballots and about that same number of absentee ballots have been issued by mail, easily topping the 1,300 absentee ballots cast in the 2004 presidential election, according to figures provided by the Cherokee County Voter Registration Office.

Last week, voters waited in line as long as 20 minutes to cast absentee ballots at the voter registration office, but Voter Registration Office official Barbara Shackleford said the wait could be longer this week.

"I'm expecting things to pick up this week," she said.

Voters must complete an application to determine the absentee ballot they will receive.

Friday will be the last day the voter registration office will mail out applications to local residents, Shackleford said.

The absentee ballots issued by mail must be received at the voter registration office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Shackleford said people can go online to track their absentee ballot request.

Despite the surge in absentee voting, Shackleford said there's no backlog in processing absentee ballot requests.

But Shackleford noted there seems to be some confusion with absentee voting here and the early voting popular in North Carolina, where any registered voter is allowed to cast a ballot.

Absentee voting, however, is only designed for people who can't make it to the polls on Nov. 4.

"There has to be a legitimate reason," she said. "In South Carolina, you have to qualify for an absentee ballot."

Shackleford said there are as many as 17 reasons to qualify to cast an absentee ballot - some of the more common include voters 65 and older, out-of-state students, physically impaired, the military and out-of-county employment.

The voter registration office will be open today through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturday from 9 a.m. until noon. The office will be open Monday, Nov. 3, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.