elections 2022

Before the polls open on Tuesday, nearly one in five South Carolina voters have already cast their ballots in the 2022 midterm elections. More than 560,000 voters took advantage of 12 days of no excuse early voting, put into law earlier this year for the first time. Statistics from the South Carolina Election Commission also show about 51,500 absentee votes had been mailed back at the of last week. The 612,000 early ballots represent more than 18% of South Carolina's nearly 3.4 million registered voters.

Another election in South Carolina will give Democrats another chance to loosen the firm grasp Republicans have on statewide politics. But it's likely to be a tough fight. Democrats haven't won a statewide race in 16 years. Democratic candidates are on the ballot in just four of the eight races across South Carolina. They all face well-financed and Republican establishment-supported challengers. GOP Gov. Henry McMaster faces Democratic challenger Joe Cunningham at the top of the ballot. U.S. Sen. Tim Scott faces Democratic state Rep. Krystle Matthews. Secretary of State Mark Hammond faces Democrat Rosemounda Peggy Butler.

More than 14% of registered voters in South Carolina have already cast ballots for the 2022 general election after the state opened up no excuse early voting to all for the first time. More than 438,000 early votes and 51,500 absentee votes were in as of the end of Thursday, which was the 10th day of early voting.

South Carolina election officials are not anticipating extremist activity. But they're not ruling it all the way out, either.

ice President Kamala Harris has visited two historically Black colleges in South Carolina to push for voter registration. The vice president is focusing on places and demographics that will be key to Democrats' chances to hold on to Congress in midterm elections. Harris traveled to Orangeburg on Tuesday to encourage first-year South Carolina State University students to register for and participate in the midterm elections. She also held a roundtable at nearby Claflin University. Harris' stepped-up travel schedule is designed to prevent, or at least limit, any drop-off in turnout among voters of color and young people.

Two days after losing a bitter primary to a rival she once deemed a "sellout" for occasionally working with Democrats, Katie Arrington appeared at a "unity rally" to urge South Carolina Republicans to come together and back Rep. Nancy Mace in the fall general election. Republicans, Arrington said, "may fight like banshees inside the house, but once we walk out that door, it's one team, one fight." The cordial tone is striking in a Republican Party increasingly defined by an absolutist approach to politics. Aware that the coastal congressional district is one of the few places in the state where Democrats have been competitive, Republicans say it is important to move past the party's internal divisions.