ARE YOU READY TO VOTE IN SOUTH CAROLINA
Early voting runs Mon. through Saturday, October 21 - November 2nd (closed on Sunday) from 8:30 am to 6 pm
EARLY
Any voter can vote early at any early voting center in their county during the early voting period. Go to an early voting center in your county, present your Photo ID, and vote using the voting system like you would at your polling place on Election Day.
The early voting period for the General Election starts on Monday, October 21 and ends Saturday, November 2. (Closed Sunday, October 27.)
Early voting centers are open 8:30 a.m.- 6:00 p.m. during the early voting period.
Visit the early voting page on scVOTES.gov to find early voting locations in your county.
If you want an absentee ballot, contact your county voting board by October 25th
ABSENTEE
If you are over 65, have a physical disability, or need to work or provide care-giving services on election day, you can vote absentee by mail.
To vote absentee by mail, get your application by contacting your county elections office.
The deadline to return the application is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 25.
Visit the absentee voting page on scVOTES.gov to learn more.
You will need a witness to sign your ballot and your id number.
Election day continues to be on the first Tuesday of November- Nov. 5th.
ELECTION DAY - TUES, NOV 5th
Vote at your polling place on election day.
Polls are open 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Find your polling place address by checking your MyscVOTES or on your Voting Registration page.
Don’t forget to bring your Driver's License or Photo ID from the Department of Motor Vehicles to the polling place. If you have not been able to obtain a photo id, you can sign an affidavit saying as much on election day. If you have an id but do not bring it, you should go home to get it or you will have to vote a provisional ballot and bring your id to the hearing right after election day to insure your vote is counted.
Make Certain Your Voter Registration is up to date
Go to SCVotes.org and enter the county where you registered to vote, your first name, your last name, your birthday (MM/DD/YEAR), and the last 4 numbers of your Social Security number. When your registration comes up, it should say - REGISTERED AND READY TO VOTE.
Check your polling location (where you vote) because they can move around due to conditions of site or the county's ability to find pollworkers. If you want to work the polls, they could really use your help - click to apply to be a poll manager (it says manager but you don't need to run the election on your own).
Please note: If you weren’t able to vote in 2020 and 2022, there is a strong possibility that your voter registration has been marked inactive by the state election commission.
Inactive does not mean kicked off; it just means it is important to check your voter registration at SCVotes.gov following the process above. You want to make certain your information is up to date. You can also call the SC Election Commission at 803-734-9060.
If your registration address and your driver’s license/photo id address are the same, you are good to go for election day. Just apply for an absentee ballot, show up for early voting at one of your county sites, or go to your polling site on election day, and your vote will activate your registration.
If you have moved within the same county since you registered and gotten a new, valid SC Driver’s license or photo identification from the SC Department of Motor Vehicles, you will need to update your voter registration address.
Follow the links on SCVotes.org page, or mail/fax/or email their change of address form before Saturday, October 5th.
If you move to another state or county, you must register in that state or county before the deadline to be eligible to vote—in SC, the deadline is October 6th. Find your new county voting office here.
Reviewing Your Ballot Prior To the Election Allows You to Research the Candidates
On the same page that you can review your voter registration, there is a link at the top of the page to view your sample ballot.
If you live in SC Senate District 43, you should expect to see the Presidential Election with 7 different candidates including Kamala D Harris/Tim Waltz representing the Democratic ticket and Donald J Trump/J.D. Vance representing the Republican ticket.
The next race will be for the 1st US Congressional District.
The third race on your ballot is for SC Senate and offers the choice between the 20 year incumbent Richard 'Chip' Campsen (Republican) and Julie Cofer Hussey (Democrat). State elections are more focused on people that party so do your research through Vote411.org (Vote411 also offers the opportunity to compare candidates and fill out your preferred candidate for each seat). Ballotpedia offers a sample ballot option, candidate survey and comparison. VoteSmart has a lot of detailed information on both candidates, including the incumbent's voting record as well as personal information provided by the candidates, and a Political Courage Test showing where each candidate stands on some of the top issues.
Julie also completed the iVoterGuide. This candidate comparison focuses on the priorities of of AFA Action, the Tea Party and other very conservative movements. Completing this survey was done to to make certain voters from left to right could see Julie's positions and make the best decision for them.
If candidates are not willing to complete survey's about their positions on a broad range of questions, you should question how responsive they will be when you ask questions of them as an elected official.