The two small-business owners hope to fill the remaining 15 months of Rep. Walter Lloyd's term. The Walterboro Democrat died in April after nine years as a legislator. Party and congressional leaders have publicly supported their candidate, with Republicans hoping to steal the long-standing Democratic seat and Democrats recognizing the difficulty they'll have pulling in voters for a special election.
District 121 comprises more than 14,000 registered voters in Beaufort and Colleton counties, with 62 percent in northern Beaufort County, including Yemassee and Sheldon, part of Burton, all of Pigeon Point and downtown Beaufort north of North Street and west of Charles Street. The National Weather Service's Charleston office is predicting partly cloudy skies today with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms this afternoon.
Expected turnout for the special election isn't likely to crest 25 percent, said Agnes Garvin, Beaufort County's elections director.
"They don't keep an eye out for it," she said. "There's not a lot of interest."
Hodges bested a field of four in the June primary with 53 percent of the vote. Bailey won in a two-person race with 76 percent of the vote. But only 2,265, or less than 16 percent, of the district's 14,260 voters participated in the primary.
"In most cases turnout (for the special election) is lower than the primary," said David Alford, Colleton County's election director.
Voters seemed pleased with the new touch-screen system in the June primary, which was purchased through a $1.4 million federal grant in March, Garvin said.
But there was a miscalculation in unofficial primary totals when an error in compiling results doubled returns from 13 precincts.
The mistake was recognized the following morning and did not change the outcome of the race.
Garvin said the election staff will closely match the number of voters heading into the polls with precinct results to make sure unofficial results are accurate.
The Beaufort County Board of Elections and Voter Registration is expected to certify the results at 11 a.m. Thursday in the Clemson Extension board room at the Beaufort Industrial Village.
Today's polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.