South Carolinians set a new voting record on Monday, on what was the first day of the state's no-excuse, in-person two-week early voting stretch in the 2024 election.
The State Election Commission said 126,741 voters cast a ballot Monday, beating the previous one-day record for early voting during the 2022 midterms at 70,100. On Tuesday, the SEC recorded 127,792 early voters.
That total is about 7% of the state's more than 3.4 million registered voters who cast a ballot using the state's no-excuse early voting.
"We are thrilled to see voters embracing the convenience of early voting, and we are anticipating a significant turnout for this election," Howie Knapp, executive director of the State Election Commission, said in a Tuesday statement.
Any registered voter can cast a ballot early in the two-period period thanks to a 2022 law.
Voting centers are open from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Saturday Nov. 2. The early voting centers, which can be found through scvotes.gov, are closed Sunday, Oct. 27.
Most of the state's 46 counties have more than one early voting center.
Voters will be asked to show a valid photo ID before stepping into the voting booth. If someone doesn't have a photo ID or cannot get one, voters can use their voter registration card and cast a provisional ballot. More information can be found on the State Election Commission's website.
South Carolinians with a qualified excuse can also 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. The deadline to return the absentee ballot is 7 p.m. on Election Day.
On top of early voting ballots, more than 47,000 absentee ballots had been returned as of Tuesday, according to the State Election Commission.
Sample ballots can be found at scvotes.gov.
Voters turned out in droves to take advantage of early voting on Monday.
The top counties included Charleston County at No. 1 with 12,221 early voters, followed by Greenville County with 10,278 first-day voters.
By Tuesday, Charleston County's election office said more than 20,000 people voted early.
Let's go, Charleston County!
— Charleston Votes (@CharlestonVotes) October 22, 2024
More than 20,000 citizens have already been processed at an Early Voting Center, and there's still time remaining on day 2!#CHSVotes #CHSNews #scVOTES #VoteReady #2024Election pic.twitter.com/k6RhII69eC
York County came in third at 8,858, or about 4.5% of its registered voters turned out.
In Lexington County, more than 1,000 voters cast their ballot at the main Lexington County voter registration office. In-person voting took less than an hour, but the curbside line stretched around the building and up toward the Lizard Thicket Restaurant, leaving drivers waiting to vote for about two to three hours.
Peggy Platt was one of them.
"This is the most important thing I have to do today," she told SC Public Radio.
Chris Weld stood in line at the office. He said he normally votes on Election Day.
"I didn't know what to expect, kind of surprised with the turnout," he said.
Of its registered voters, McCormick County recorded the highest turnout of its registered voters at about 8.5%. Anderson and Beaufort counties reported about 2% of their respective registered voters cast a ballot on Monday.
In 2020, the last presidential election cycle, more than 1.3 million (not counting military and overseas ballots) South Carolinians voted early. Voters that year could cast a ballot early without an excuse due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The permanent two weeks of in-person, no-excuse early voting took effect in 2022.
Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect new early voting numbers from the State Election Commission.
SC EARLY VOTE NUMBERS
Editor's Note: In-person early voting totals will be updated daily. Early voting centers are closed Sunday, Oct. 27, and early voting ends Saturday, Nov. 2. As of Nov. 2, 1,471,663 voters have cast an early ballot in person.
Oct. 21: 126,726
Oct. 22: 127,833
Oct. 23: 128,988
Oct. 24: 127,819
Oct. 25: 134,553
Oct. 26: 90,204
Oct. 28: 130,328
Oct. 29: 123,574
Oct. 30: 117,333
Oct. 31: 110,286
Nov. 1: 134,709
Nov. 2: 119,310
SOURCE: S.C. STATE ELECTION COMMISSION
Reporter Scott Morgan contributed to this report.
