Early voting changes will be in effect for SC statewide primaries. What you need to know

Historically, South Carolina residents have needed an excuse to cast ballots before Election Day.

That changed in 2020, when state lawmakers extended absentee voting — both in-person and by-mail voting — to all registered voters due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afforded more flexibility in voting, South Carolinians responded in a big way.

During the 2020 general election, the state smashed its previous record for absentee ballots cast, and for the first time ever, absentee votes exceeded votes cast on Election Day.

Crucially, the massive shift in voting behavior came without sacrificing election integrity, as there were no significant challenges to the legitimacy of South Carolina’s election.

Buoyed by the success of expanded absentee voting in 2020, state lawmakers set out to establish no-excuse early voting as a permanent fixture of South Carolina elections going forward.

Legislation that both chambers passed unanimously last week and the governor quickly signed into law does just that, making South Carolina the 45th state to enact early voting.

The early voting changes will be in effect for next month’s statewide primaries on June 14.

What to know: Early voting

True early voting has replaced what was previously called in-person absentee voting.

The process is virtually identical to what was in place during the 2020 election cycle, except that the new two-week early voting period is roughly half as long as it was then.

Any voter can visit an early-voting location in their county and vote like they would at their polling place on Election Day. Voters must bring a photo ID (driver’s license, passport, military ID) or voter registration card, if they lack a photo ID.

They do not need to provide a reason why they are voting early and their votes are counted as they come in. Outside of the temporary voting changes made in 2020, in-person absentee voters have needed to meet certain requirements and their ballots were not counted until Election Day.

The early voting period for the 2022 statewide primaries runs from Tuesday, May 31 to Friday, June 10.

Polls will be open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. during that period. Polls will be closed Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5. For general elections, early voting will extend from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and also be offered on Saturdays.

Early voters can cast ballots at all county voter registration and elections offices, as well as any other early voting sites counties operate. Counties that plan to open additional early voting sites must select those locations by May 24. All early voting sites will be listed online at the State Election Commission website, www.scvotes.gov.

If a runoff is required to decide the winner of any primary race, voters will have three days of early voting ahead of a runoff election.

This year, runoffs are scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, with early runoff voting held Wednesday, June 22 to Friday, June 24. The voting hours and locations for runoffs will be the same as they are for primaries.

What to know: absentee voting

Absentee voting now refers only to ballots cast by mail prior to Election Day, as in-person absentee voting is no longer authorized by law.

Absentee by-mail voting will work mostly like it always has, but with more checks and balances that could somewhat complicate the process for voters.

The most important thing to keep in mind about absentee voting is that only qualified voters are eligible to do it.

Qualified voters include:

▪ Voters with disabilities

▪ Voters 65 years of age or older

▪ Members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them

▪ Voters admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election

▪ Voters who are unable to vote in person on any day of the early-voting period or on Election Day because of employment obligations; attending to sick or physically disabled people; confinement to a jail or pretrial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial; or absence from their county for any reason.

While the new law changes the wording of some of the reasons that qualify voters to cast absentee ballots, it doesn’t remove any of them. In fact, the provision granting absentee voting rights to anyone absent from their county for any reason should expand the pool of qualified voters.

One distinction to note, however, is that voters only qualify for the excuses related to work obligations, caregiving, incarceration or absence from their county if those conditions apply during the entire two-week early voting period and on Election Day.

Before the state added an early voting period, voters needed only to meet those conditions on Election Day to vote absentee.

The multi-step process of absentee voting has gotten a bit more involved under the new law.

Voters are still required to request and return an application for an absentee ballot before they’re sent an absentee ballot in the mail. Upon receiving their absentee ballot, voters must then fill it out and return it no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Previously, voters could submit their absentee ballot requests online and return their applications via fax or email. That is no longer permissible under the new law.

Going forward, all absentee ballot requests must be made by phone, by mail or in person at your voter registration office, and must be returned by mail or in person.

Elections officials are in the process of developing new absentee ballot applications based on the new law’s requirements. Voter registration offices will accept old applications through May 31, at which point anyone who submits an absentee ballot application must do so using one of the new applications.

The deadline to return a new application ahead of the statewide primary is June 3, 11 days before Election Day.

The application deadline had previously been the Friday before a Tuesday election — giving voters an unrealistically short four-day window to apply for, receive and return their absentee ballot.

Lawmakers moved back the deadline to ensure that anyone who meets it will stand a reasonable chance of receiving and returning their ballot in time to have their vote counted. Ideally, ballots returned by mail should be mailed no later than one week prior to Election Day to ensure timely delivery.

Absentee voters are still required to sign the voter’s oath on their ballot and secure a witness signature on the return envelope.

The new law makes some changes to the witness signature requirement, but the changes won’t be in effect until after the statewide primaries. Beginning in July, witnesses must print their name, in addition to signing it, and must be at least 18 years old. There had not previously been an age restriction on absentee ballot witnesses.

Lawmakers also made some changes to who can request and return applications and absentee ballots in an effort to better secure the absentee voting process.

Going forward, applications and completed ballots may only be returned by the voter, a family member or an authorized representative. Family members and authorized representatives who return ballots on behalf of someone else will be required to fill out a form.

Previously there were no rules regarding who could return an absentee ballot application or completed ballot, as long as it wasn’t done by a candidate or campaign staff.

Under the new law, anyone who returns an absentee ballot in person, including the voter, will be required to show photo identification.

This story will be updated.