Dabo Swinney details Election Day voting mishap

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney joked Tuesday that the state was ready to vote him out of office after an Election Day misunderstanding.

Poll workers in South Carolina denied Swinney’s attempt to cast a ballot Tuesday morning, telling him the system indicated he had voted already.

Swinney explained to reporters that the system mistook Dabo — whose legal first name is William — for his son with the same name who had voted early.

“They done voted me out of the state,” Swinney quipped. “We’re 6-2 and 5-1, man. They done shipped me off.”

Swinney said he filled out a paper ballot and will attend a hearing on Friday to resolve the situation.

“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,” Swinney said. “So, what was going to take 10 minutes, took an hour. Next thing, I’m on the phone with some director, I think her name was Amy, super sweet lady, and she’s trying to tell me this whole process.

“It was quite an experience this morning, but apparently they’re gonna 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, but yeah. It was trying to do my best and be a good citizen and go vote. Sometimes doing your best ain’t good enough. Going to keep figuring it out.”

No. 19 Clemson (6-2, 5-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had a six-game winning streak snapped last Saturday in a 33-21 home loss to Louisville. The Tigers return to action Saturday at Virginia Tech (5-4, 3-2).

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