On February 24, voters in Clarendon County overwhelming selected former President Donald Trump as their choice in the South Carolina republican presidential primary. Nikki Haley was easily beaten throughout the county and her home state, presumably setting Trump up to win is third straight GOP nomination. Trump has now swept every state primary that counted for Republican delegates, including Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada. Haley has refused to drop out of the race, despite growing pressure and losing the state that she served for six years as governor.
The GOP primary ballots also included three non-binding survey questions. These questions are regularly included on the state’s Republican primary ballot to get a county- by-county and district-by-district breakdown of where voters stand on specific issues. However, the outcomes carry no immediate weight in deciding state law. Here are the questions as written and submitted by party officials and what led to their
inclusion on the ballot:
Should South Carolina law be changed to give people the right to register to vote with the political party of their choice?
In South Carolina, anyone who is registered to vote in the state can choose to participate in either a Republican or Democratic primary without declaring an affiliation, but not both. There is no party affiliation law in the state, meaning that voters do not formally register
with a party when they sign up to vote, giving them the option of where to cast a ballot. South Carolina is one of 15 states that have an open primary, but the rules vary widely across the country. Closed primaries and registration by party would take action by the state Legislature.
Closing the primaries would keep the nomination process in the hands of the parties. If successful, it would mean voters wishing to participate in the primaries would need to publicly declare if they are Republican or Democrat. This question will be referred to as Question 1 in the breakdown of totals by precinct.
Should South Carolina adopt reforms to increase the independence and accountability of our judiciary by improving transparency and reducing conflicts of interest in the process of reviewing judicial qualifications and electing judges?
The 170 members of the General Assembly control much of the process by directly electing state judges. Critics say this process gives lawyer-legislators too much influence to choose which judges they see in court. Advocates of the process say there is little evidence of any misconduct and that other methods have their own downsides. This question will be referred to as Question 2 in the breakdown of totals by precinct.
Should it be an immediate legislative priority to protect South Carolina’s competitiveness and small businesses by changing state law so that a person’s responsibility for financial damages in a lawsuit is based on that person's actual share of responsibility?
Another focus for South Carolina Republicans is tort reform. Tort is a legal term related to personal injury lawsuits and providing compensation for people hurt by another. The question is meant to poll voters' interest in changing how compensation in those lawsuits is determined. GOP leaders have said they would like to limit compensation in these kinds of lawsuits to a specific percentage of fault determined by the court in each case. This question will be referred to as Question 3 in the breakdown of totals by precinct.
The following is a breakdown of voter totals by precinct in Clarendon County. After the totals for president, the three ballot questions will simply be referred to as Questions 1, 2 and 3. “Did not vote” under the president totals means the voter chose to abstain from voting for president and chose to only answer the ballot questions. Under the ballot questions, “Did not vote” means the voter chose to abstain from voting on that question.
Absentee votes
Nikki Haley: 24
Donald Trump: 21
Question 1 –
Yes: 25
No:15
Did not vote: 5
Question 2 –
Yes: 36
No: 7
Did not vote: 2
Question 3 –
Yes: 34
No: 7
Did not vote: 4
Early votes
Nikki Haley: 447
Donald Trump: 740
Chris Christie: 1
Ron DeSantis: 3
Question 1 –
Yes: 858
No: 272
Did not vote: 61
Question 2 –
Yes: 1029
No: 96
Did not vote: 66
Question 3 –
Yes: 996
No: 115
Did not vote: 80
Alcolu
Nikki Haley: 22
Donald Trump: 79
Chris Christie: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 67
No: 25
Did not vote: 10
Question 2 –
Yes: 81
No: 12
Did not vote: 9
Question 3 –
Yes: 79
No: 14
Did not vote: 9
Barrineau
Nikki Haley: 11
Donald Trump: 123
Did not vote: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 106
No: 24
Did not vote: 5
Question 2 –
Yes: 121
No: 8
Did not vote: 6
Question 3 –
Yes: 118
No: 11
Did not vote: 6
Barrows Mill
Nikki Haley: 2
Donald Trump: 30
Chris Christie: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 29
No: 1
Did not vote: 3
Question 2 –
Yes: 29
No: 0
Did not vote: 4
Question 3 –
Yes: 23
No: 6
Did not vote: 4
Bloomville
Nikki Haley: 14
Donald Trump: 42
Question 1 –
Yes: 48
No: 8
Did not vote: 0
Question 2 –
Yes: 48
No: 7
Did not vote: 1
Question 3 –
Yes: 51
No: 5
Did not vote: 0
Calvary
Nikki Haley: 4
Donald Trump: 33
Question 1 –
Yes: 16
No: 17
Did not vote: 4
Question 2 –
Yes: 29
No: 4
Did not vote: 4
Question 3 –
Yes: 23
No: 10
Did not vote: 4
Davis Station
Nikki Haley: 82
Donald Trump: 165
Ron DeSantis: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 192
No: 44
Did not vote: 12
Question 2 –
Yes: 216
No: 24
Did not vote: 8
Question 3 –
Yes: 209
No: 27
Did not vote: 12
Harmony
Nikki Haley: 24
Donald Trump: 80
Ron DeSantis: 2
Question 1 –
Yes: 65
No: 38
Did not vote: 3
Question 2 –
Yes: 84
No: 16
Did not vote: 6
Question 3 –
Yes: 85
No: 15
Did not vote: 6
Hicks
Nikki Haley: 15
Donald Trump: 140
Question 1 –
Yes: 124
No: 28
Did not vote: 3
Question 2 –
Yes: 139
No: 8
Did not vote: 8
Question 3 –
Yes: 134
No: 13
Did not vote: 8
Home Branch
Nikki Haley: 9
Donald Trump: 52
Question 1 –
Yes: 42
No: 14
Did not vote: 5
Question 2 –
Yes: 50
No: 6
Did not vote: 5
Question 3 –
Yes: 53
No: 3
Did not vote: 5
Jordan
Nikki Haley: 136
Donald Trump: 309
Ron DeSantis: 1
Ryan Binkley: 1
Did not vote: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 340
No: 87
Did not vote: 21
Question 2 –
Yes: 381
No: 41
Did not vote: 26
Question 3 –
Yes: 374
No: 47
Did not vote: 27
Manning No. 1
Nikki Haley: 7
Donald Trump: 22
Question 1 –
Yes: 25
No: 3
Did not vote: 1
Question 2 –
Yes: 24
No: 4
Did not vote: 1
Question 3 –
Yes: 27
No: 0
Did not vote: 2
Manning No. 2
Nikki Haley: 16
Donald Trump: 48
Ron DeSantis: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 49
No: 13
Did not vote: 3
Question 2 –
Yes: 57
No: 4
Did not vote: 4
Question 3 –
Yes: 60
No: 2
Did not vote: 3
Manning No. 3
Nikki Haley: 42
Donald Trump: 94
Question 1 –
Yes: 94
No: 35
Did not vote: 7
Question 2 –
Yes: 116
No: 14
Did not vote: 6
Question 3 –
Yes: 108
No: 21
Did not vote: 7
Manning No. 4
Nikki Haley: 4
Donald Trump: 27
Question 1 –
Yes: 19
No: 11
Did not vote: 1
Question 2 –
Yes: 18
No: 11
Did not vote: 2
Question 3 –
Yes: 20
No: 9
Did not vote: 2
Manning No. 5
Nikki Haley: 13
Donald Trump: 36
Question 1 –
Yes: 41
No: 8
Did not vote: 0
Question 2 –
Yes: 44
No: 4
Did not vote: 1
Question 3 –
Yes: 40
No: 7
Did not vote: 2
New Zion
Nikki Haley: 6
Donald Trump: 69
Ron DeSantis: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 52
No: 17
Did not vote: 7
Question 2 –
Yes: 56
No: 11
Did not vote: 9
Question 3 –
Yes: 58
No: 11
Did not vote: 7
Oakdale
Nikki Haley: 2
Donald Trump: 32
Question 1 –
Yes: 30
No: 13
Did not vote: 1
Question 2 –
Yes: 28
No: 5
Did not vote: 1
Question 3 –
Yes: 27
No: 5
Did not vote: 2
Paxville
Nikki Haley: 34
Donald Trump: 53
Question 1 –
Yes: 52
No: 30
Did not vote: 5
Question 2 –
Yes: 78
No: 3
Did not vote: 6
Question 3 –
Yes: 74
No: 7
Did not vote: 6
Panola
Donald Trump: 15
Question 1 –
Yes: 9
No: 5
Did not vote: 1
Question 2 –
Yes: 13
No: 0
Did not vote: 2
Question 3 –
Yes: 12
No: 0
Did not vote: 3
Sardinia-Gable
Nikki Haley: 5
Donald Trump: 20
Question 1 –
Yes: 20
No: 5
Did not vote: 0
Question 2 –
Yes: 21
No: 4
Did not vote: 0
Question 3 –
Yes: 21
No: 4
Did not vote: 0
Summerton No. 1
Nikki Haley: 82
Donald Trump: 262
Ron DeSantis: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 265
No: 57
Did not vote: 23
Question 2 –
Yes: 289
No: 29
Did not vote: 27
Question 3 –
Yes: 278
No: 37
Did not vote: 30
Summerton No. 2
Donald Trump: 4
Question 1 –
Yes: 4
No: 0
Did not vote: 0
Question 2 –
Yes: 3
No: 1
Did not vote: 0
Question 3 –
Yes: 3
No: 1
Did not vote: 0
Summerton No. 3
Nikki Haley: 10
Donald Trump: 29
Ron DeSantis: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 24
No: 13
Did not vote: 3
Question 2 –
Yes: 31
No: 4
Did not vote: 5
Question 3 –
Yes: 33
No: 2
Did not vote: 5
Turbeville
Nikki Haley: 30
Donald Trump: 178
Question 1 –
Yes: 153
No: 48
Did not vote: 7
Question 2 –
Yes: 172
No: 22
Did not vote: 14
Question 3 –
Yes: 161
No: 35
Did not vote: 12
Wilson-Foreston
Nikki Haley: 19
Donald Trump: 96
Did not vote: 1
Question 1 –
Yes: 81
No: 33
Did not vote: 2
Question 2 –
Yes: 96
No: 16
Did not vote: 4
Question 3 –
Yes: 95
No: 20
Did not vote: 1
Cumulative Total for Clarendon County
Nikki Haley: 1060
Donald Trump: 2798
Ryan Binkley: 1
Chris Christie: 3
Ron DeSantis: 11
Did not vote: 3
Question 1 –
Yes: 2830
No: 864
Did not vote: 193
Question 2 –
Yes: 3289
No: 361
Did not vote: 227
Question 3 –
Yes: 3196
No: 434
Did not vote: 247
