COLUMBIA, S.C. — Early voting is under way for the South Carolina June 14th Primaries.
For the first time, South Carolinians will be able to vote early in person, with no excuse thanks to a bill that passed unanimously by lawmakers and was quickly signed into by Governor Henry McMaster.
Early voting begins Tuesday, May 31 and ends Friday, June 10. Voters can cast early ballots at local county voting centers 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. As with election day, all voters must bring a photo ID when checking in to vote.
Deputy Executive Director of the South Carolina Election Commission Chris Whitmire said there are several benefits to early voting, including accessibility and shorter lines.
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"We're all busy, we have busy lives, and to limit us to those 12 hours on that one day, some people can't make it happen. So having those additional options to vote at your convenience is huge."
Whitmire tells News 19 this new law has been a long time coming.
"Early voting is something the state election commission has supported for a long time," said Whitmire "Whether we had a year to implement it, or two weeks. We're just glad it's here."
Whitmire explained the push came after the success early in-person absentee voting had during the pandemic.
"In November 2020, more than half of South Carolinians voted before election day. Whether that'll happen here in these June primaries or not, remains to be seen," said Whitmire.
Counties are required to have at least one polling place open, but can have up to seven locations. For example, Richland County has five polling places, while Lexington County has one. Whitmire said while, he believes the quick turnaround to implement early voting was a factor.
"I know that some counties ran into that difficulty of really finding a location that is available for that whole time period," said Whitmire. "As we move forward in other statewide elections, I really think you'll see more locations in more counties."
In addition to making it easier to vote, Whitmire said the new law gives counties more flexibility to staff more poll workers or add more voting machines if a site gets busy.
"It takes the pressure off any one day and takes the pressure off any one location," said Whitmire.
Billy Tention couldn't wait until election day to cast his ballot for the June 14 primaries.
"For us to make changes we got to get out and vote," said Tention.
Absentee voting is still allowed for people over the age of 65 with mobility issues or illnesses, but those ballots must be cast by mail.
Early voting hours and locations for runoff elections will be the same as the primaries.