Official turnout projections won’t be along for another few hours, but as it stands now, people are showing up in droves to vote in the South Carolina GOP primary.
By 10:15 a.m., 191 people had voted at Caughman Road Elementary. That’s a strikingly large number considering only 236 voted at that traditionally Democratic precinct in the 2008 Republican presidential primary.
At 10 a.m., more than 400 people had voted at Polo Road Park with lines out the door. That’s getting close to the 489 voters during the entire day in 2008.
At Saluda River Baptist, a predominantly Republican precinct in Lexington County, more than 270 had voted by 11 a.m. compared to 385 in the entire day in 2008.
More than 280 people had voted at Woodlands precinct in Columbia by 11 a.m. with the line nearly out the door on a rainy Saturday throughout much of the state.
More than half an inch of rain had fallen in the Greenville area between midnight and 8 a.m.
The Upstate has been hit by light rain most of the morning, with a heavy line of showers on the way by midday. Common wisdom is that the Upstate is a key area for Santorum and Gingrich.
The rain has avoided the Lowcountry most of the morning, and the radar looks clear in that area for the next few hours. The region is especially important for Romney.
While these numbers are preliminary and hardly enough to come to any general conclusion, the enthusiasm generated by this primary is undeniable, no doubt augmented by the electrifying debate on Thursday night.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member