Michael Burns

mdburns@greenvillenews.com





Mary Whitson has voted in every election since she became of age out of a sense of duty to her country, her family and herself, and the motivation behind the 56-year-old African-American woman's choice Saturday morning at Riverside High School boiled down to what she believes is best for them all.

She voted for Hillary Clinton, who if elected would become the nation’s first woman president and immediately follow the first African-American president, but not because Clinton is a woman.

“Most people vote to benefit themselves, and I think some of the things she’d continue will benefit me,” Whitson said.

That includes President Barack Obama’s healthcare initiative, which she feels particularly helps her daughter, who voted alongside Whitson Saturday morning but declined to be identified or reveal her vote.

Among 10 voters at Riverside who did reveal their votes, six voted for Bernie Sanders, four for Clinton.

Precinct clerk Chuck Eaton, who’s overseeing operation at one of Greenville County’s 151 precincts, said voter turnout was light in the early going. It trailed the turnout for the Republican Primary last weekend by about 100 at 9 a.m.

The area, like much of the Upstate, decidedly leans Republican.

That’s the way Steve Cook, a single father and former member of the U.S. Air Force, used to vote. He voted for George W. Bush in his first term.

He voted for Sanders Saturday, and he brought his 9-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son along for the experience.

“To me it’s about the big picture,” Cook said. “Show me the humanity. That’s all that really matters.”

Audrey Bryson, a nurse who voted on her way home from the night shift at North Greenville Hospital, chose Sanders because she thinks he’d fare better than Clinton against Donald Trump in the general election.

Mother and daughter Leigh and Cynthia Vint, who voted 20 minutes after Whitson and her daughter, also chose Sanders.

“He’s not for sale,” said Leigh. “I have a lot of admiration for somebody who’s willing to stand up to the things that I think are wrong with our government today.”

Cynthia, 24, said she felt apathetic until finding a connection to Sanders about six months ago.

Leigh typically voted Republican until about five years ago.

Another voter, a 59-year-old Greer office worker who identified himself only as Jim, once voted for Ronald Reagan, but he’s voted for Democrats at the national level ever since. His choice was Clinton.

“I think she’s got the knowledge and the composure,” Jim said. “I think people have given her a bad name. I think she really is a good person. As a secretary of state she was willing to go out and do it admirably. Yes, she probably should not have read those emails in her own personal account. There are many CEOs that have done the same thing for their company. Donald Trump is one of the prime examples. He’s done things like that himself, and I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him over there.”

He knew for months that Clinton would be his choice.

Whitson made up her mind only in the last couple of days.

“I wasn’t sure,” she said. “They were both saying things that made sense. Actually I think they’d make a good team, together. I didn’t want to vote the other ticket. I couldn’t find anybody there. There are problems with both sides. I don’t agree totally with everything they say, and I don’t agree totally with everything (the others) say, but I know I have to vote.

“It’s my right to vote, and I know a lot of people died so that African-Americans can vote.”

- Follow Michael Burns on Twitter @MikeNearGreer