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Spartanburg County projects high turnout, details equipment, absentee processing and audit schedule
Summary
Elections staff told the board they expect roughly 210,000 active registered voters, projected about 110,000 Election Day votes and 60,000 early votes, described equipment deployments (including 726 ballot‑marking devices), and scheduled a public hand‑count audit for Nov. 6 with certification on Nov. 8.
Spartanburg County elections staff told the board they are preparing for record participation and have staged equipment, procedures and personnel to handle the expected volume.
The director said the office currently lists about 210,000 active registered voters and is preparing for roughly 170,000 voters to participate (about 110,000 on Election Day and roughly 60,000 voting early). "I'm preparing for over 70% of the voters to turn out" in some precincts and said early‑voting and absentee changes under Act 150 of 2022 affect how many voters choose mail versus early in‑person voting.
Staff reported 8,436 new voter registrations processed in the first fiscal quarter and roughly 5,90 address changes (as read in the transcript). As of the director's report the office had mailed 3,153 absentee ballots through the Tuesday before the meeting and an additional 46 applications had been uploaded later.
On equipment, staff said the county will deploy nearly all available equipment for the election, including 726 ballot‑marking devices (the office cited the statutory guideline of one device per 250 voters) and upgraded scanners with larger flash drives to speed processing. Four early‑voting sites will share the equipment; staff said they will deploy 46 ballot markers across the four sites and keep spares for redeployment on Election Day.
For absentee and overseas voters, the county is using the state's contracted enhanced‑voting system for UOCAVA ballots; the system emails ballots to overseas and military voters and returns an encrypted file that county staff can print directly onto a scannable ballot using a Remake station. Staff said the Remake station will print a unique identifier on duplicates and include a matching label for the original ballot to improve transparency and reduce manual errors.
Staff outlined tabulation room security and public viewing: access to the tabulation room will be limited to necessary personnel, with live video of key processes displayed in conference room 6 so the public can observe without entering secure spaces. The office scheduled a public hand‑count audit for Nov. 6 at 9:00 a.m. (conference room 6) and certification for Nov. 8 at 10:00 a.m.
The director emphasized logistics planning including generator backup for early‑voting sites, extra deputies for parking and crowd control and recruiting poll managers (staff reported 793 poll managers signed up for training, with a goal to exceed 900). The League of Women Voters offered volunteer support for outreach and poll staffing.
The office will post updated registration and deadline clarifications on its website and work with state SCvotes resources to reduce public confusion about postmarks and absentee deadlines related to upcoming holidays.
