Personal Injury Attorney in Chester, SC

Latest results and news about the 2024 national elections, and key North Carolina and South Carolina elections.

Voters in several counties across the Charlotte region were asked to approve nearly $1 billion worth of bond referendums, mostly for schools and largely in the nearby counties of South Carolina. The largest of those bond votes, a $588 million bond package in Lancaster County, failed, according to unofficial results. A $227 million bond package in Chester County also failed.

When a government or school district issues bonds, it’s a bit like spending on a credit card or taking out a mortgage: The government borrows the money by selling bonds, pays for projects and then pays the bondholders back (with interest) over coming years using tax revenue.

York School District No. 1 bond

The York School District's $90 million bond package passed by a 64-to-36 margin, allowing the district to fund a new middle school, acquire property and renovate school facilities.

Lancaster County school bonds

Lancaster County voters rejected a $588 million school bonds package with a 60% to 40% margin. This would have funded the construction of several new schools in the district, as well as renovations at existing schools and the addition of security cameras with facial recognition to all schools.

Chester County school bonds

In Chester County, voters rejected a $227 million bond package that would have funded new and expanded high schools, as well as renovations at existing schools.

Union County, N.C. school bonds

Taxpayers in the Union County Public Schools District approved a $39 million bond package that school officials say will address some of the district’s aging facilities.

South Carolina voters also have two major transportation bonds on the ballot:

York County transportation sales tax

Voters in York County approved a one-cent sales tax increase to last for seven years, the latest in the county's "Pennies for Progress" program. The revenue would finance major road projects throughout the county, including widening U.S. Highway 21 and improving dozens of intersections. The total cost of the projects would be about $411 million.

Lancaster County transportation sales tax

In Lancaster County, voters opposed raising the sales tax by one cent for 15 years, in order to fund $405 million worth of transportation improvements. The big-ticket items of that package included widening Highway 521, widening Harrisburg Road, and widening Henry Harris Road, as well as dozens of intersection makeovers, road resurfacing and new roundabouts. Separately, voters opposed up to $250 million worth of bond spending for additional transportation projects, in order to borrow money upfront and start spending quickly on projects like the 521 widening.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — The 2024 general election is quickly approaching, but South Carolina voters will not have to wait until Election Day to cast a ballot.

Governor Henry McMaster signed a law in May 2022 that replaces in-person absentee voting with an early in-person voting period for the two weeks leading up to election days.

Any registered voter, including those who will be 18 years old by the Nov. 5 general election, can cast a ballot during the early voting period without an excuse.

“Early voting provides a convenient and secure way for you to cast your ballot,” said Howie Knapp, the executive director of the South Carolina Election Commission. “Find an early voting center in your county, vote just like you would at your polling place on Election Day, and have your voice heard.”

Early voting for the 2024 election begins on Monday, October 21, and ends on Saturday, Nov. 2.

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Here’s what voters need to know:

The ballot will include seven candidates for president, according to officials:

An eighth candidate — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — was initially nominated by the South Carolina Alliance Party. However, party leaders withdrew him from the ballot in August after he suspended his presidential campaign.

Additionally, each of South Carolina’s seven U.S. House of Representatives seats is up for election.

All 170 seats in the South Carolina state legislature — 124 in the House and 46 in the Senate — are also up for grabs this year. Some are uncontested, however.

Some ballots will also include races for county sheriff, circuit solicitor, probate judge, coroner, school board, and other countywide and local races.

Voters can find out who is on the ballot where they live by obtaining a sample ballot from the South Carolina Election Commission.

South Carolina adopted new state legislative district maps in December 2021 following the 2020 U.S. Census. Some district lines were redrawn, new districts were created, and some districts were eliminated.

Voters can find out which district they live in on the South Carolina legislature’s website.

Each county in South Carolina is required to have at least one polling location open for early voting. Some larger counties may have multiple open locations while smaller counties may have just one early voting site.

Early voting centers are open Monday through Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. during the early voting period. Early voting is not available on Sunday, Oct. 27.

Here are the early voting locations* in the Lowcountry, by county:

Chester County

Chesterfield County

Lancaster County

York County

You can find the complete list of early voting locations in every South Carolina county here.

Editor’s Note: The list of early voting centers may be updated as additional information becomes available.

A valid photo ID is required to vote in South Carolina elections, including during the early voting period. Acceptable forms of identification include:

State law requires an individual to register to vote at least 30 days before an election.

The deadline to register for the 2024 election is Monday, Oct. 14.

There are several ways you can register to vote in South Carolina:

1 – South Carolinians can register online by visiting scvotes.gov before midnight on Oct. 14. You will need your South Carolina Driver’s License or DMV ID card.

2 – Download a voter registration form from scvotes.gov. Complete and return the form to your county voter registration office either by fax or email before midnight on Oct. 14, or by mail – but it must be postmarked by Oct. 14.

3 – Register in person at your county voter registration office. Remember: most offices close at 5 p.m. for in-office registration.

Voters can check their registration status by visiting scvotes.gov.

The structure built 40 years ago, was home to a congregation with a rich history spanning over 150 years.

CATAWBA, S.C. — A Chester County community is reeling after a massive fire engulfed a beloved church.

Mount Zion AME Zion Church was home to a congregation with a rich history spanning over 150 years. A large fire destroyed the church off of Canal Road in Catawba late Thursday night. As firefighters worked to battle the flames, heavy wind gusts caused the fire to spread.

“The last 12, 14 hours have been full of emotions, the ups and the downs," Rev. Andre Showers said. "It's also grief because it is a loss to us and there's a lot of history here."

Showers said the church was engulfed in flames, destroying the sanctuary.

"It's just devastating to see everything that you've been working toward, and seeing a vision come to fruition, and see it all in flames," he said.

Flames were seen coming through the roof when firefighters arrived. Crews faced several challenges, including no fire hydrants in the area and gusty winds fueling the flames.

"It took a truck, to get here to the field site, to a hydrant was roughly a seven-minute turnaround," Lando Fire Chief Darius Murphy said. "That was a hindrance, but we did have 10 tankers at least, shuttling water."

No one was hurt but the building was a complete loss.

“Older buildings burn a lot quicker and it has a lot of new material in there and so it had so much fuel just from the material that was already there and just the structure,” Murphy said.

The 40-year-old structure was left in ruins. The scene of charred wood, shattered windows and a collapsed roof was nothing short of heartbreaking as the remnants smoldered on Friday.

“It’s a church full of history, the land was donated years and years ago to build the old church,” Showers said. "As the church began to grow, they needed a different sanctuary and they built that structure."

It's a big loss for a community that's poured its heart and soul into the church.

"They have really sacrificed a lot in the last couple of years to get the church back on track and to make sure the church has what it needs,” Showers said.

Church fire in Chester County

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Jesse Pierre

A large fire destroyed Mount Zion A.M.E Zion Church off of Canal Rd. in Catawba, South Carolina in Chester County on Dec. 5, 2024.

Even in the face of tragedy, Showers said the church will overcome and their faith remains unshaken.

“We put our faith and trust in God because that is who we believe in and we know he is going to sustain us and carry us through,” Showers declared. “We will rise from the ashes as the phoenix does. We will not allow this to take us down or take us out. We are tenacious, with God’s help we can do any and everything. Our faith will not waver.”

State investigators were on the scene, which is standard protocol for church fires to ensure there was no foul play. Church leadership said the early signs point to a possible electrical issue but the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The reverend said he has gotten so much support, from offers for a place to hold service and other things they need and for that they are thankful.

"We offer our prayers to the church community," the fire department said in a statement on Friday.

The response involved agencies including Fort Lawn Fire Protection District, Lesslie Fire-Rescue, Oakdale Fire, Lancaster County, Chester County EMS, the sheriff's office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.

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York County voters Tuesday passed a $90 million bond referendum to build a new middle school and perform upgrades to a learning center in York County School District 1, in York.

The bond, which is expected to add $36 per $100,000 of assessed primary home value per year, was the smallest of three bond measures on the ballots in York, Lancaster, and Chester counties.

Voters in York County ultimately sided with the project, voting 10,508 to 5,875 in favor of the bond, according to unofficial results posted by the South Carolina Election Commission.

County voters also passed a 1-cent sales tax referendum to fund road and infrastructure projects, with 71 percent of voters saying yes.

Lancaster

Lancaster County residents voted on the largest of the referendums on the region’s ballots -- a $588.15 million package that would have funded four new schools, plus repairs and upgrades at others in the Lancaster County School District.

Two of the schools – and the bulk of the overall referendum allotment, $315.6 million – was earmarked to Indian Land, the fastest growing section of the county school district. Support was high in precincts in Indian Land, particularly the Harrisburg precinct, which voted 2-to-1 in favor of the referendum.

But voters in most of the county’s 36 precincts denied the measure. Opposition in the southern end of Lancaster County, where many voters said the school district’s plans unfairly overlooked schools there in favor of wealthier Indian Land, was especially strong. Facebook user Sharon Morris Stacks posted that schools in the southern part of Lancaster “don’t get what they need or deserve.”

Overall, the measure failed 30,759 to 20,869, according to unofficial results posted by the South Carolina Election Commission.

County voters also, but more narrowly, said no to a 1-cent sales tax bond measure that would have funded local roads and infrastructure projects.

Chester

Chester County voters, for the fourth consecutive time, voted against a Chester County School District bond referendum, -- this time a $227 million package that would have paid for the construction of two new high schools and repairs to a third.

As it was in Lancaster County, support for the project was high in areas where the new buildings would go – in this case, Chester and Lewisville – but fell off sharply in other parts of the county.

Overall, Chester voters rejected the measure 7,999 to 6,798, according to unofficial results posted by the South Carolina Election Commission.

School District spokesman Chris Christoff said last week that if the bond measure were to fail at the polls, the district would still replace the roofs at Lewisville High School – one of the provisions of the bond measure – and at Chester High School, but the district would pay for it with its own capital funds. Christoff said the projects are likely to total approximately $20 million.

Growth and Upgrades

Two of the school bond referendums were aimed at addressing growth in the South Carolina communities that are part of the Charlotte metro region. In September, the Charlotte Observer calculated that 117 people moved to the region every day between July 2022 and July 2023. That’s roughly one new person moving to the region every five minutes.

According to the U.S. Census, approximately 16,000 people moved to York County and approximately 12,000 people moved to Lancaster County between April 2020 and July 2023.

Chester County saw its population flatten over that same time period, but the district’s bond measure was less about growth and more about upgrades. Christoff said that Chester High School, for example, is a badly outdated building with far too many entrances – there are at least 70 – to meet contemporary school security needs.

But the building is also struggling with capacity, as is Lewisville, which would have received one of the two newly built high schools had the bond passed.

Christoff said part of the district’s plans, now that the bond measure has been defeated, will be to buy new modular classroom structures to ease capacity issues in Lewisville, which is the district’s fastest growing area.

This story has been corrected to state that the high schools in Chester and Lewisville are identified for roof repairs.