COLUMBIA, S.C. — Absentee voting was supposed to start Monday in Richland County, but that date has been pushed back to next October 5th. However, not everyone got that message, which led to confusion at the Richland County Voter Registration and Election Office.
"It wasn't anything we did, and it wasn't the media's fault," said Alexandria Stephens. "The media was putting out the information they received. The initial date was September 28th, until after that bill passed, it caused absentee voting to start October 5th."
House Bill 5305 Governor Henry McMaster, signed on September 16th, was designed to allow voters to cast their ballots through the mail without an excuse due to the pandemic.
"It allowed all register voters to vote absentee with the state of emergency reason," explained Stephens. "There are a few other things the bill allowed voters to do. But those were to biggest changes the bill called for."
"You can fill out your application to receive your application," said Stephens. "That is the only process you can do today. If you want to complete your application in person, that starts on October 5th."
Fill out an application to get an application; it sounds confusing. The bottom line is this the only thing you can do before October 5th. Election officials encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid delays in receiving your ballot and processing it.
The deadline to register to vote in person is October 2nd. October 4th is the deadline to register to vote online, and the deadline to register by mail is October 5th.