Thousands of voters in the Upstate have already cast their ballots for Tuesday's GOP Senate runoff.
Early voting began on Wednesday, Aug. 19, for a special election to determine the Republican Party's candidate for the U.S. Senate.
Today, Aug. 21, is the final day of early voting.
Sen. Darline Graham, R-South Carolina, and U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, R-District 5, will compete in a runoff election on Aug. 25 to be the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate. Lindsey Graham, who held the seat since 2003, won the Republican Party's Senate primary on June 9 before he died on July 11.
As of around 2 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 20, Greenville County had 4,276 early votes; Anderson County had 1,851 early votes, and Spartanburg County had 2,212 early votes.
Greenville County election commissioner Patty Roach said that the county was seeing a steady flow of early voters, but no long lines.
"We are very busy here at McAlister Square Early Voting Center, only one (polling place) for this election," Roach said. "We are processing about 300 voters per hour…thankful our voters are coming out to vote."
Graham and Norman competed in a field of 10 candidates in the special election on Aug. 11, and they received the most votes. Graham earned 109,881 votes, compared to Norman's 82,627 votes. Since neither candidate received at least 50% of the vote, a runoff was needed to determine the winner.
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Both candidates have spent their last week campaigning before the runoff, trying to win over voters across the state. Graham and Norman were both in the Upstate on Aug. 7 and on Aug. 17, speaking at various forums and connecting with voters.
Graham and Norman were set to speak at a South Carolina Republican Party forum in Anderson on Aug. 21; however, the event was postponed due to President Donald Trump's visit to South Carolina to campaign for Graham in Myrtle Beach.
Today is the final day to vote early. Early voting started on Wednesday, Aug. 19. Early voting centers will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 21, and voters will need a photo ID to vote.
Greenville County residents can vote early at McAlister Square on Pleasantburg Drive. Spartanburg County residents can vote at the Spartanburg County Voter Registration Office on North Church Street, and Anderson County Residents can vote at their county voter registration office on North Main Street.
Voters can find their polling place for the Aug. 25 election day on the South Carolina State Election Commission's website.
Attorney General Alan Wilson sent a letter on Aug. 17 to the state election commission requesting it give voters advance notice of any precinct consolidations or polling place changes ahead of the Aug. 25 runoff. Wilson wrote that timely notice of polling place changes will help prevent voter confusion on election day.
"Because this special election is being conducted on a compressed timeline, some changes may be necessary, but voters should not be confused on Election Day," Wilson wrote.
Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Thousands cast ballots in early voting for GOP Senate runoff. See numbers