2024-10-22 01:20:03
COLUMBIA — South Carolinians can vote in person starting Monday.
Polling locations across the state will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily through Saturday, Nov. 2, with one exception. They’ll be closed Oct. 27, since state law bans voting on Sunday.
“There’s no need to wait until Nov. 5 to vote,” said Howard Knapp, executive director of the State Election Commission, in a press release Thursday. “Find an early voting center in your county. Vote just like you would at your polling place on Election Day, and have your voice heard.”
It’s the first general election with the president on the ballot since the Legislature passed a law in 2022 formalizing a two-week window of no-excuse-needed, in-person early voting. In 2020, legislators allowed South Carolinians to vote early without giving a reason for being unable to vote on Election Day. But those were temporary changes amid the pandemic.
By law, all 46 counties must have at least one early voting location. They can offer as many as seven locations. Five counties offer the maximum number of choices: Charleston, Florence, Greenville, Horry and Richland.
Registered voters in the roughly two-thirds of counties with more than one option can pick whichever is most convenient. The same rules apply as on Election Day. Voters will be asked to show identification.
Voters also still have time to vote by mail. But it’s a multistep process.
Applications for absentee ballots must be turned in by 5 p.m. Oct. 25. Allowed reasons for voting absentee include being out of town for the entire early voting window as well as Election Day, serving in the military, being 65 or older or having a physical disability.
Once filled out, absentee ballots can be returned by mail or in person to an early voting center or to the voter’s county election office by 7 p.m. Nov. 5.
Voters this year can cast a ballot in the race for president, in the seven congressional seats across South Carolina, all 170 Statehouse seats and on a proposed amendment to the state constitution, as well as a number of local races.
The South Carolina Daily Gazette has a voter guide to many of these races, along with answers to other questions voters might have.
Just over 3.4 million South Carolinians are registered to vote heading into the election.
Following the devastation of Helene, the state Democratic Party successfully sued for an extension to the registration deadline, which gave people until Oct. 14 to get signed up.
During the 10-day extension, 26,290 residents registered to vote, and 11,486 people updated their voter registration, according to John Michael Catalano, spokesman for the state election agency.
To find the early voting locations in your county, go to the state Election Commission website and click on your county.
