Dabo Swinney, like many Americans, wanted to exercise his right to vote on Election Day. The problem is that, when he arrived at his polling location, Swinney was told he had already voted.
During his press conference ahead of Clemson's game against Virginia Tech, Swinney revealed that there was a mix-up with his ballot in South Carolina. Swinney strolled into an empty polling place, only to be told he had already cast his ballot last week.
"He said I'd already voted," Swinney said. "I was like, 'No, I can assure I haven't voted."
Immediately, Swinney's mind went to last weekend's loss to Louisville.
"I'm like, 'Dang, they already voted me out of the state. Lost a game. We're 6-2 and 5-1 (in conference), and they done shipped me off," Swinney said.
Eventually, Swinney and the poll workers were able to get everything sorted out. Swinney's son, Will, voted early, and his ballot was counted as Dabo's. Swinney will still get to make his voice heard in the 2024 election, but he will have to jump through a few more hoops than usual.
"What was gonna take 10 minutes is now gonna take an hour," Swinney said. "Next thing I know, I'm on the phone with some director named Amy, super sweet lady. She's trying to tell me this whole process. Now there's gonna be some hearing on Friday. I had to do a paper ballot. It was quite an experience this morning."
Now that Swinney has proven he's not trying to vote twice, he can shift his focus to Virginia Tech this weekend. The Tigers are looking to rebound, and they'll have to do so in Blacksburg against a Hokies team trying to reach bowl eligibility.