The South Carolina Election Commission reported Monday that about 1.04 million people cast ballots in the state's 12-day 2026 General Election early voting period.
South Carolinians this year will decide the state's the next governor and which candidate for U.S. Senate will succeed the late Sen. Lindsey Graham. State representative and county council contests are, too, on ballots, among other local races. Sample ballots are available on the election commission's website.
Although the figure is not an early voting participation record, it is greater early voting participation than in the 2022 midterm election.
No-excuse early voting has only existed in the state since 2022; it now surpasses 1 million participants for the second time since its implementation. About 1.47 million people voted early in the 2024 General Election, which included a presidential race on the ballot.
In the 2022 General Election, which was a midterm election like in 2026, about 561,000 people voted early.
As of Monday morning, 40,732 absentee ballots have been returned to the state election commission and been accounted for.
When accounting for all ballots casts, McCormick County led the state's 46 counties in turnout percentage; 44.6% — or 3,482 of its 7,807 — registered voters voted early. Greenville County led the state in the raw quantity of ballots cast with 108,729, which is 31.1% of registered voters in the county.
