Moral values key issue for voters

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"Because he's a good guy," the 20-year-old Bob Jones University sophomore from Baltimore said. "I like the fact he's pro-life and also that he's an outspoken Christian."

Moral values, according to exit polls, turned out to be the deciding factor for more voters than Iraq, terrorism or the economy. In South Carolina, 23 percent said their most important issue was moral values.

Nationally, 22 percent listed moral values as their top issue in the election, compared to 20 percent for the economy, 19 percent for terrorism and 15 percent for Iraq, according to an exit poll by MSNBC.

"Cultural issues play well in this state and in Greenville County," said Bruce Ransom, a Clemson University political scientist. "Though there are concerns about jobs and foreign affairs, it seems that cultural issues and national security had a great motivating effect."

Having a hometown candidate, Jim DeMint, on the ballot for U.S. Senate, also likely was among the factors that spurred the highest voter turnout in Greenville County since 1992,

But Parham was in the minority in one respect: Young voters didn't turn out to the polls in spite of massive efforts by MTV and a number of youth-oriented groups. Only 17 percent of the voters Tuesday were in the 18-29 age group, compared to 29 percent who were 30-44 and 30 percent who were 45-59, according to the MSNBC poll.

Unofficial election totals show that 75 percent of registered voters in Greenville County made it to the polls Tuesday, compared to 62 percent statewide up from 67 percent and 63 percent, respectively, four years ago. The only election with higher turnout in the past 20 years was in 1992, when 84 percent of the county's electorate voted, according to state Election Commission figures.

Churches, white and black, probably played a big role in the high turnout Tuesday, said Donald Aiesi, a political science professor at Furman University.

"If you've got your largest white group and your largest black group mobilized to get out and vote you're going to have high numbers," he said.

Still, some young voters simply didn't get around to getting their paperwork in to exercise their democratic right.

James Ray, a 19-year-old Greenville Technical College student, saw the ads encouraging young people to vote. But he mistakenly thought his Selective Service card was a voter registration card.

"I wanted to vote, honest I did. I just messed up," he said.

Josh Dew, an 18-year-old freshman at BJU from Mauldin, would have voted for Bush, but he didn't register in time.

"When it comes to having leadership of the country I believe we should have a leader who has good Christian moral values because that is important," he said.

Plenty of people, some of them in the 18-29 age group, did go to great lengths to get their vote in on Tuesday, though. Ryan Duncan, 23, was in line with his wife, Jennifer, and 5 -month-old son, Xander, for more than an hour at Greenville County Square because of an outdated polling place listed on his voter registration card.

Conway Belangia, director of the county's elections office, said the polling place listed on some people's new voter registration cards was outdated by the time the cards were mailed out, but a slip of paper updating the change should have been in the envelope. In one case, a poll worker's home address was inadvertently listed as the polling place, he said.