Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney says he was stopped from voting on Election Day due to ballot mixup
Dabo Swinney said the mixup involved his son's early voting ballot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney took time from his preparations ahead of Saturday’s matchup against Virginia Tech to fulfill his civic duty when he ran into a bit of an issue.
He had apparently already cast his vote for the 2024 presidential election.
The only problem? He hadn’t, actually.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney looks on in the second half of an NCAA college football game against Louisville, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Clemson, S.C. (Jacob Kupferman/Associated Press)
Talking to the media on Tuesday, the football coach revealed that he planned to start his day at the election polls. What he thought was going to be a quick "10 minute" detour, turned out to be a much longer process.
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"Tried to go vote. Tried to go do my best and vote this morning. They told me I couldn’t vote. That was quite an experience," Swinney said with a smile, adding that initially he thought the issue had something to do with Clemson’s loss to Louisville over the weekend.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Dang. They done voted me out of the state. Lost a game. We’re 6-2 and 5-1 (in the conference), man. They done shipped me off."
Swinney went on to explain that he was told he had already voted with a mail-in ballot the previous week.
Voters work on their ballots at a polling place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Simi Valley, Calif. (Chris Pizzello/Associated Press)
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He said I already voted. And I was like ‘No, I can assure you I haven’t voted.’"
"As it turns out, Will — my oldest — voted last week, and they somehow messed it up, didn’t verify his birthday or something, and they counted me as the vote. So what was going to take 10 minutes took an hour."
Swinney said he instead had to fill out a paper ballot and that a hearing would be held Friday to resolve the issue — a timeline he expressed reservations about.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney reacts in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Louisville, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, in Clemson, S.C. (Jacob Kupferman/Associated Press)
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"It was quite an experience this morning. But apparently they’re going to fix it on Friday, and me and Will — our two votes — will count on Friday. I don’t know if it’ll matter on Friday. Trying to do my best and be a good citizen and go vote, and sometimes doing your best ain’t good enough."
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