A hot rainy Tuesday didn’t deter voters who turned out to vote in the primary election. And they didn’t have to spend much time in the voting booth. Most citizens used one ballot to cast their vote for SC Senate District 32 and Williamsburg County Coroner.

However, for those residents living in Salters the ballot was split and this caused some confusion regarding the race for Williamsburg County Council District 3.

Some voters were under the impression they were given the wrong ballot however, according to the election commission the confusion lay in Williamsburg County Council redistricting and the possibility that those citizens either didn’t receive their new voter registration card and/or didn’t receive a letter explaining the changes.

Where the confusion was widespread, one example was Salters.

Historically, Salters was located in District 4, but since the redistricting which became effective this year, the town was split and became both District 3 and 4. Even more confusing, some precincts, such as Singletary had multiple districts (1, 2 and 7) running through it.

Williamsburg County was one of two counties monitored by the Justice Department during the primary elections. The Justice Department had several federal observers monitoring polling place activities and recording those activities during voting hours.

Williamsburg and Fairfield counties were monitored to ensure compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to a press release issued by the Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs. Each year the Justice Department deploys hundreds of federal observers from the US Office of Personnel Management, as well as departmental staff, to monitor elections across the country.