Voters Roll Out Around Town

You may need a magnifying glass to see who voted in Saturday's primary. Not because the turnout is low (by mid day, one polling location reported 12.3 percent voter turnout), but because the "I Voted" stickers are an inch smaller than usual.

Dorchester County Elections and Voter Registration Executive Director Joshua Dickard said the stickers are from an accidental print that printed the stickers last June at one-quarter inch instead of one and a quarter inch. 

The stickers are provided by Palmetto Project, but the organization didn't provide enough this election, Dickard said.

"We figured this would be a good opportunity to use the tiny ones," Dickard said. Plus, it saves money during a party primary that .

Some of the voters took notice, and volunteer Linda Ensor made a joke of it and said it was due to "government cutbacks."

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But while the small stickers raised some eyebrows, voters were also confused over who would win the Palmetto state when the voting closes at 7 p.m.

At the polling location, Kathy Richards didn't want to reveal who she cast her vote for, but she was decided long before she entered the booth. Endorsements and debating performances didn't play a factor in this Republican's voting decision. 

"I don't care about some public figure making an endorsement," Richards said, adding that she cares what her family and friends say around her. 

She said that either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich would win South Carolina. 

Husband and wife Traci and Matt Theodore cast their vote in unison for Ron Paul. They had decided to vote for the candidate several months prior to Saturday's primary.

Matt Theodore voted for Paul in 2008 and identified as a libertarian, though he said if Romney wins the nomination, he would vote for Romney against President Barack Obama.

"I voted more with my heart than with my brain today," Theodore said. 

Wife Traci Theodore said she wouldn't vote for Romney in the general, and her vote would go to Obama. 

Theodore added the Gingrich was her second choice in the primary. 

Julia Brooks, a former independent turned Republican, of Summerville said she decided Thursday night while watching the debate to vote for Romney.

"He was professional," she said. On the issues of his income, she said that shows what a self-starter he is and that he didn't inherit his income. 

Her vote was just as much against Gingrich, though.

"I question Newt Gingrich's moral convictions," she said. "Morally, he won't be well-received in South Carolina."

She added that she might have voted for Rick Santorum, but didn't feel like she had the chance to know the candidate as well as she would have liked. 

Her husband Larry Brooks, who voted for Romney, also cited Gingrich's moral issues. 

"(Romney) has not had any flaws that I have known, unlike Gingrich who likes to cheat on his wife," Brooks said.