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Latest results and news about the 2024 national elections, and key North Carolina and South Carolina elections.

Voters in several counties across the Charlotte region were asked to approve nearly $1 billion worth of bond referendums, mostly for schools and largely in the nearby counties of South Carolina. The largest of those bond votes, a $588 million bond package in Lancaster County, failed, according to unofficial results. A $227 million bond package in Chester County also failed.

When a government or school district issues bonds, it’s a bit like spending on a credit card or taking out a mortgage: The government borrows the money by selling bonds, pays for projects and then pays the bondholders back (with interest) over coming years using tax revenue.

York School District No. 1 bond

The York School District's $90 million bond package passed by a 64-to-36 margin, allowing the district to fund a new middle school, acquire property and renovate school facilities.

Lancaster County school bonds

Lancaster County voters rejected a $588 million school bonds package with a 60% to 40% margin. This would have funded the construction of several new schools in the district, as well as renovations at existing schools and the addition of security cameras with facial recognition to all schools.

Chester County school bonds

In Chester County, voters rejected a $227 million bond package that would have funded new and expanded high schools, as well as renovations at existing schools.

Union County, N.C. school bonds

Taxpayers in the Union County Public Schools District approved a $39 million bond package that school officials say will address some of the district’s aging facilities.

South Carolina voters also have two major transportation bonds on the ballot:

York County transportation sales tax

Voters in York County approved a one-cent sales tax increase to last for seven years, the latest in the county's "Pennies for Progress" program. The revenue would finance major road projects throughout the county, including widening U.S. Highway 21 and improving dozens of intersections. The total cost of the projects would be about $411 million.

Lancaster County transportation sales tax

In Lancaster County, voters opposed raising the sales tax by one cent for 15 years, in order to fund $405 million worth of transportation improvements. The big-ticket items of that package included widening Highway 521, widening Harrisburg Road, and widening Henry Harris Road, as well as dozens of intersection makeovers, road resurfacing and new roundabouts. Separately, voters opposed up to $250 million worth of bond spending for additional transportation projects, in order to borrow money upfront and start spending quickly on projects like the 521 widening.

Lancaster County and Chester County voters chose not to approve massive school bonds, unofficial election results show.

Almost 60% of voters picked “no” on the school bond in Lancaster County, with all precincts reporting. Results won’t be official until they’re certified later this week. The bond would’ve built new Indian Land schools and renovate facilities elsewhere. The five northernmost precincts supported the bond and everything farther south opposed it, among posted results.

The Lancaster County School District asked voters to approve what may be a state record $588 million school bond.

The proposal included a new high school and elementary school in Indian Land. Two more new elementary schools would consolidate four facilities in Lancaster, Kershaw and Heath Springs. The bond included renovations and upgrades throughout the district.

The South Carolina School Boards Association tracks referendum results back to 1978.

Only two votes put more money to schools than the one voters saw on Election Day in Lancaster County. Neither of them were true bond votes. Each was a sales tax to fund schools.

The Lancaster school bond was debated in numerous school district and community forums. Groups like Vote Yes Lancaster School Bond and Lancaster Vote No School Bond formed online.

Support came from parents concerned with school overcrowding, particularly in Indian Land. Opposition focused on the high price, the amount of resources devoted solely to the county’s panhandle and the need for a new high school.

More than than half of the registered voters in Lancaster County cast ballots before Tuesday. More than 38,000 early and absentee ballots make up 54% of all voters. York County had 53% of its registered voters participate early. Chester County was at 45%.

The York School District asked voters for $90 million to pay for a new middle school, expansion and renovation of district facilities. The plan included the conversion of the district’s alternative learning school, York One Academy, into an early childhood learning center.

More than 64% of the votes in York supported the bond, with all precincts reported.

The Chester County School District asked for $227 million to replace Chester and Lewisville high schools with new facilities. The bond also included money to upgrade classrooms, security, gym and fine arts space.

Like the even larger amount in Lancaster County, the bond request in Chester County is higher than any approved school bond amount on record in the Rock Hill region. A $226 million bond approved by Fort Mill voters in 2015 was the highest heading into Election Day.

Chester County voters did see the only one larger, when they turned down a $263 million bond two years ago.

About 54% of votes were against the school bond once all precincts reported.

A Flourish chart

Coming into election day, six school districts across the three-county Rock Hill region had a 71% passage rate for 38 bonds all-time.

Lancaster County (67%) and Chester County (17%) fell below that mark. York (80%) passed bonds at a higher rate.

The Lancaster County bond Tuesday was more than twice the amount of all three of its prior referendum questions combined. Voters turned down a $30 million school bond in 1991 and a $37 million bond in 1999.

The school district went the other way in 2016. That’s when 74% of voters approved a $199 million bond for a new high school in Indian Land, an elementary school and other upgrades.

York approved four bonds from 1985 to 2007, combining for $119 million. Voters there voted against a $69 million bond in 2003.

Chester County last passed a bond in 1996.

Since 1989 there were five failed bonds, including three in the last six years. Before Tuesday’s decision, Chester County voters turned down $482 million worth of bonds while passing only the $19 million vote almost three decades ago.

This is a developing story.

This story was originally published November 5, 2024, 8:29 PM.

Voters in three of South Carolina’s Charlotte metro counties will decide the fate of nearly $1 billion in school bond referendums this election. School districts in Lancaster, Chester, and York counties are looking to expand capacity and enhance security features in campus buildings.

Meanwhile voters in Chesterfield County are being asked to renew the county school district’s penny sales tax to help fund upgrades to athletic facilities, general renovations, and expanded classroom and cafeteria spaces.

Lancaster

The largest of the referendums on the ballot is in Lancaster, where the county school district is seeking $588.15 million, mostly for the construction of four new school buildings. The district serves almost 16,000 students in 22 schools; it is looking to add an elementary school and a high school to fast-growing Indian Land (which would use $315.6 million of the bond funds); a new elementary school in Lancaster ($113.45 million); and a new elementary school in Kershaw ($95 million).

An additional $37.6 million is earmarked for districtwide facilities upgrades, while $26.5 million would pay for security, safety, and facilities upgrades in the Buford community.

The tax impact on voters, should the referendum pass, would be about $65 per year for every $100,000 of assessed property value of an owner-occupied home, and per every $10,000 of assessed vehicle value. That tax would bump to $92 per year $100,000 of assessed value of non-owner-occupied residential properties.

Chester

In Chester, voters will decide on $227 million that would fund a pair of new high schools and upgrades to another.

The new high schools would replace the current buildings in Chester and Lewisville. The upgrades would be made at Great Falls High School.

The money raised by the referendum would cover most of the costs of the projects. According to information published by the district, the referendum would pay $99.1 million towards the new high school in Chester and $100.15 million towards the new high school in Lewisville. The remaining $16.8 million to complete both projects would be paid for by the district’s capital funds – which would pay for a theater and a gym at each location.

The tax impact, according to the district, would be $230 annually per $100,000 of assessed home value, plus $34.50 for every $10,000 of assessed vehicle value. The owner of a home valued at $100,000 and a vehicle valued at $10,000, therefore, would pay an additional $264.50 per year in taxes, if the bond referendum passes.

That is a big if, however. Chester voters have denied three successive bond referendums, in 2018, 2020, and 2022.

District spokesman Chris Christoff said that following the 2022 referendum, voters stated that they had felt the district was trying “to do a little too much at one time.” In response, the district launched a series of listening sessions this past spring.

“We asked, if we were to pursue a fourth referendum, what would you want to see,” Christoff said.

A follow-up survey asked whether voters understood the capacity, security, and facilities conditions issues in the district. According to the district, about 80% of the roughly 1,000 respondents said they better understood what they would be voting on, which is a scaled-down slate of projects that no longer include athletics expansions or work to the district career center.

If the referendum fails this round, Christoff said, the district will spent about $20 million of its own capital funds to replace the roofs at Great Falls and Chester high schools, plus other funds to buy additional modular classrooms in Lewisville – the fastest-growing area of the school district, he said.

Chester County School District serves about 5,500 students, which is up from about 5,100 students in 2018-19.

York

The smallest referendum on the ballot for Pee Dee voters this election is a $90 million bond that would pay for a new middle school and expansion and renovations to a learning center in York County School District 1, in York.

According to the district, four elementary schools and one middle school are between 80% and 90% capacity in a district that continues to grow along with the Charlotte metro. As of March, almost 2,400 new homes in the City of York are on tap from development plans in place, according to the district

Therefore, the district maintains, a new middle school is needed to meet that growth as elementary students age up.

The district also wants to renovate its Pinckney Street Learning Center/York One Academy to become an early childhood center.

The tax impact on voters would be $36 additional per year for every $100,000 of assessed home value; $54 per year for every $100,000 of assessed value on second or rental properties; and $945 per year for every $1 million of assessed business property value.

Updated: Oct. 18, 2024 at 6:17 PM PDT

CHESTER, S.C. — The legacy of a man celebrated as a pioneer of public education in rural South Carolina is now permanently honored in the Midlands.

But the recognition holds even greater significance for the entire state and its history.

On Friday, state and local leaders joined community members to unveil a new historical marker in Chester in honor of Finley High School and its namesake, Samuel Louis Finley.

It’s also the 2,000th historical marker to be installed in South Carolina.

“This school is vital to our community,” Chester Mayor Carlos Williams said. “It is more than a building; it’s a legacy that has enriched East Chester and the Chester community for generations.”

The school was opened as the first high school for Black students in Chester in the 1920s and was an “equalization school,” intended to keep Black and White students segregated.

It was named in honor of its former principal, a celebrated educator in Chester County during the Jim Crow era.

“The great lessons of a great high school, teachers, principal, and staff continue after the last school bell rings,” James Wright, historian for the S.L. Finley Restoration Association and a member of the Finley class of 1963, said.

South Carolina’s Historical Marker Program — part of the state’s Department of Archives and History — has been around for nearly 90 years.

In the first 40, there was just one marker installed to commemorate African American history.

But the coordinator for the state program said ones like Finley’s, at former public schools for African American students, are now some of the most popular as South Carolina recognizes more of this important history.

“The mission of the State Marker Program is education, but more specifically, it is to teach people about the past through the lens of place, to use the experience of being physically present where history unfolded in order to leave a deeper impression and to encourage someone to reflect on how that past relates to our present,” Historical Marker Program Coordinator Edwin Breeden said.

While the program is state-managed, it’s local South Carolinians who are responsible for proposing, funding, and maintaining the markers, which can be found in all 46 counties.

“We need to do more of this,” Gov. Henry McMaster said during Friday’s ceremony. “That’s why we need to cover this state, to remind us and teach these young people that spectacular things happened here. There’s no place that has as much, as deep, as consequential history as this place.”

Sen. Mike Fanning, whose district includes Chester, said markers like these are not just significant to recognizing the state’s past but also in shaping its future.

“If kids are going to know where they’re going, they first need to know where they’ve been, where they’ve come from,” Fanning, D – Fairfield, said.

Next month, Finley High School will go before a panel in Columbia as part of its application to be added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The former school building now serves as a community center for the broader Chester community.

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