Polls open today for general election

Polk County’s municipalities of Columbus, Saluda and Tryon turned out in low numbers for early voting with Tryon having the highest turnout at 10.7 percent, according to unofficial results from the Polk County Board of Elections.
Early voting in Polk County ended on Saturday, Nov. 2 with Saluda turning out 8.1 percent of its registered voters and Columbus turning out 6.4 percent of its registered voters.
Early voting was done at the Polk County Board of Elections, with a total of 244 early voters.
Tryon had 152 early votes out of its 1,422 registered voters; Saluda had 42 early votes out of its 518 registered voters and Columbus had 50 early votes out of its 787 registered voters, according to unofficial results.
Today’s general election will be held from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. in Polk County’s towns. Columbus residents will choose three candidates out of four to fill council seats. Incumbents Ricky McCallister and Margaret Metcalf are seeking re-election along with challengers Tommy Melton and Josh Denton vying for the third seat, currently held by Ernie Kan, who chose not to seek re-election. Incumbent Columbus Mayor Eric McIntyre is running unopposed.
Columbus’ polling place today is Columbus Town Hall, located on Walker Street downtown.
Saluda has the largest race for commissioner with seven candidates seeking two open seats. Incumbents Johnnie Kinard and George Sweet are running to retain their seats against challengers Carolyn Ashburn, Karen Bultman, Mark Oxtoby, Hobart “Sunny” Pace and Ellen Rogers. Saluda Mayor Fred Baisden was running unopposed until last week when challenger John Morgan signed up to run as a write-in candidate.
Saluda’s polling place is the Saluda Fire Department, located on Greenville Street.
Tryon also has a large race with six vying for two council seats and a contested mayor race. Incumbent commissioners Doug Arbogast and Wim Woody are running to retain their seats against Bill Crowell, Bill Ingham, Happy McLeod and Billy Moss. Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples is being challenged by Jim Wright. Anne Day’s name will be on the ballot today, but she has dropped out of the mayoral race.
Tryon’s polling place today is the Harmon Field cabin, located in the main entrance of Harmon Field on Harmon Field Road.
Landrum area voters will go to the polls today from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. There are four candidates running for three open council seats in Landrum. Incumbent council member Billy Inman was the only one of three to seek re-election with challengers Tammy Wells Cox, Savannah Martin and Randy Wohnig. Council members Jan Horton and Don Smith did not seek re-election this year. Mayor Bob Briggs is running unopposed and has already been declared the mayor since South Carolina does not recognize write-in candidates.
Landrum’s polling place is the Landrum United Methodist Church, located on U.S. 176.
Area Spartanburg County residents will also be choosing five candidates out of eight running for the District One School Board. Incumbents Henry Gramling, Harry McMillan, Mark Rollins and Michael Smith are seeking re-election and being challenged by Ronnie Blackwell, Don Denton, Mark Holden and Brian Keim.
Hugh Burnett did not seek re-election this year. District One includes Campobello, Gowensville, Landrum, Inman, New Prospect, Hollow Springs, Motlow and Gramling.
South Carolina voters have a new identification law this year and must have one of the following items with them in order to vote: a voter registration card, driver’s license or a DMV-issued ID card.
See Wednesday’s edition of the Bulletin for complete coverage of today’s election.