South Carolina's two-week stretch of early voting begins today for the 2024 election.
Voting centers are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday, Nov. 2. Early voting centers are closed Sunday, Oct. 27.
Any registered South Carolina voter can cast a ballot early, no matter the excuse after the state Legislature passed a law in 2022 cementing the two-week, in-person, no-excuse early voting period.
"There’s no need to wait until Nov. 5 to vote. Early voting provides a convenient and secure way for you to cast your ballot,” Howie Knapp, the executive director of the State Election Commission said in a Oct. 17 press release. "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.”
Most of the state's 46 counties have more than one early-voting center.
Through Election Day, voters need a photo ID to cast a ballot. (If someone does not have a photo ID, voters can use their voter registration card and cast a provisional ballot. More information can be found on scvotes.gov.)
South Carolinians with a qualified excuse can still vote absentee by mail.
Absentee ballots must be requested through the voter's registration office, and the application is required to be returned by 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25. The deadline to return the absentee ballot is 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Voter sample ballots can be found on scvotes.gov.
This year is a presidential election year. Seven political parties have certified their nominees to appear on the 2024 ballot in South Carolina:
- Randall A. Terry and Stephen E. Broden (Constitution)
- Cornel West and Melina Abdulla (United Citizens)
- Jill Stein and Rudolph Butch Ware (Green)
- Donald J. Trump and JD Vance (Republican)
- Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat (Libertarian)
- Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz (Democratic)
- Claudia De La Cruz and Karina Garcia (Workers)
Beyond the White House, South Carolina voters also will decide who represents them in the U.S. House, the state Legislature and a handful of local offices, from sheriff, to coroner and school board. There also is a state constitutional question, and many counties have local ballot referendums.
More than 3.4 million South Carolinians are registered to now vote after the state Democratic Party successfully sued to extend the state's voter registration deadline until Oct. 14 after Hurricane Helene tore through parts of the state.
In the last presidential election in 2020 — prior to South Carolina's passage of the no-excuse early voting law — 1,321,294 voters (not counting military and overseas ballots) cast an absentee ballot, according to the State Election Commission.
Voters that year could cast a ballot in-person without an excuse due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The permanent no-excuse early-voting law did not take effect until 2022.
Early voting has begun across the state of South Carolina and continues through Nov. 2. This morning at 9 a.m., the line at the Baxter Hood Center at York Technical College was more than 100 deep. (photo credit: Scott Morgan) #Election2024 pic.twitter.com/IVFfTwznYk
— South Carolina Public Radio (@SCPublicRadio) October 21, 2024
SC voters line up early to vote
On the first day of early voting, South Carolina’s long-serving Democratic Congressman Jim Clyburn walked into the Vance Senior Center in Orangeburg County to cast his ballot for Vice President Kamala Harris.
Clyburn donned his alma mater South Carolina State University hat while greeting many familiar faces and shaking hands as gospel music from a television in the center played.
The senior center’s art room was converted into an early voting location with three machines. It is one of three locations in the Democratic-leaning county at the heart of the district that Clyburn's represented since 1993.
“I feel real good about doing my part to help maintain this track toward a more perfect union,” Clyburn said. “I think any observer to what’s been going in on in our country recently know that our country’s at a crossroads, and it’s not the first time our country has been there.”
Clyburn said he prefers to vote early because it’s not always known what could happen come Election Day, such as bad weather or issues with registration problems that may need to be remedied by Nov. 5.
Record early voting is taking place in neighboring swing states of Georgia and North Carolina, and it also kicked off Monday in Texas where Clyburn was for the past two days campaigning for Rep. Collin Allred.
Allred is a Democrat challenging Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in an expensive and closely-watched race.
As for Clyburn’s reelection bid to continue representing the 6th Congressional District, he faces longshot Republican challenger Duke Buckner.
“I’m not worried about myself," Clyburn, 84, said. "I am worried about the country.”
This weekend is South Carolina State’s homecoming.
Clyburn said he tells younger voters to vote for the future they want in five years, even, he says, if they're voting in a red state like South Carolina.
“I get very disturbed when I hear young people tell me my one vote won’t matter," Clyburn said. "One vote throughout history has always mattered.”
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
