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South Carolina statewide election filing opens today. What to know

Last week more than 238,000 people voted early across South Carolina and nearly 38,000 mail-in absentee ballots were returned. This is the first general election in our state with early voting thanks to the massive bi partisan election integrity bill Republican and Democratic lawmakers passed in May.
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Candidates vying for federal, statewide, state House and other various local offices can officially start filing for those seats Monday, March 16 if they want to be on the June primary ballot.

South Carolina's 2026 election season has officially started.

Candidates vying for federal, statewide, state House and some local offices can officially start filing for partisan offices at noon Monday if they want to be on the June primary ballot.

This year, all seven of South Carolina's U.S. House seats are up for reelection.

So is one of two U.S. Senate seats, plus all statewide constitutional offices, such as governor and agriculture commissioner, and all 124 seats in the state House of Representatives.

Candidate filing closes at noon Monday, March 30.

South Carolina's primary elections are set for June 9.

Runoffs, if necessary, will be held June 23.

South Carolina's Election Commission keeps track of all candidate filings via its candidate tracking system that can be found here.

Filing for governor and lieutenant governor, a joint ticket, costs more than $4,200.

Running for attorney general, or treasurer or superintendent of education is a bit lower, with the filing fee coming in at about $3,680.

Anyone running for a U.S. House seat will spend $3,480 to file, while running for the U.S. Senate will take $10,440.

To run for the S.C. House takes a filing fee of $208, while circuit solicitor is $8,877.

When do I need to register to vote by?

South Carolina voters have until early May to register to cast a ballot in the statewide primaries.

The deadline to register in person is May 8, the deadline to register online, fax or email is May 10 and registration by mail must be postmarked by May 11.

Early voting in person for the June 9 primaries starts May 26 and ends June 5.

More information about voter registration can be found here.

Maayan Schechter (My-yahn Schek-ter) is a news reporter with South Carolina Public Radio and ETV. She worked at South Carolina newspapers for a decade, previously working as a reporter and then editor of The State’s S.C. State House and politics team, and as a reporter at the Aiken Standard and the Greenville News. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, and graduated from the University of North Carolina-Asheville in 2013.