Dabo Swinney explains why he wasn't allowed to vote on Election Day

Swinney said he was denied the right to vote Tuesday, but there will be a hearing to have his vote count later in the week.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Nov 5, 2024, 1:46 PM

CLEMSON - Citizens across the country headed to the polls Tuesday to cast their votes in not only the Presidential election, but also state and local. One of Clemson's leading citizens was denied that right.

Head coach Dabo Swinney told the media Tuesday that he went early this morning to cast a ballot was told he couldn't vote. The reason? He was listed as having already voted.

“So I tried to go vote, tried to go do my best and vote this morning they told me I couldn't vote,” Swinney said. “That was quite an experience anyway. I walked in there, I was like, okay, it's right after school. Alright, this is going to be perfect. Now I walk in, I'm the only person in there and they're like, ‘Hey coach.’ And then they hit the thing. ‘I'm sorry, I can't give you a ballot.”

Swinney was jokingly asked if it was because of the loss to Louisville.

“That's what I'm thinking. I'm like, dang, they done voted me out of the state, I lost the game,” Swinney said. “We're 6-2 and 5-1 and they’ve done shipped me. But no, he said I'd already voted. And I was like, ‘No, I can assure you I hadn't voted.’ Well, it says we issued you an early ballot, and you voted.”

It turned out to be a mix-up with another William Christopher Swinney – his son Will.

“And 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,” Swinney said. “So yeah, what was going to take 10 minutes, took an hour. Next thing I'm on the phone with some director, her name, I think her name was Amy, super sweet lady and she's trying to tell me this whole process. There's going to be some hearing on Friday. And I had to do a paper ballot, stuff it in. 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. But yeah, I was trying to do my best and be a good citizen and go vote. And sometimes doing your best ain't good enough. You had to keep going though. Keep figuring it out.”