COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia resident Aidan Peck says he’s never voted in a local election or registered to vote.
“The reason I didn't isn't a great reason, but it's because, as a college student who's working all the time, it's just at the bottom of my list of things to do,” Peck said. “It's something I know I have to do.”
For South Carolinians like Peck who have been putting off registering to vote, time is running out.
“In South Carolina, to be eligible to vote in an election, you have to be registered 30 days prior,” said TJ Lundeen, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Election Commission. “So, the October 8 deadline that is out there is the online registration deadline for folks to vote and what we're calling municipal election day, which is in November.”
Lundeen says if you don’t know your voter registration status, you can check it on their website. That’s also where you can register to vote.
“You're going to need a state issued ID, and it could be a driver's license or a DMV ID,” Lundeen said.
You can also register by mail, but make sure your envelope is post-marked before Tuesday.
If you're one of the 3,379,000 South Carolinians who were registered to vote by 2022, or if you’ve just registered, Lundeen says he encourages viewing the sample ballots the commission provides.
“Going and viewing the sample ballots is the best thing to make sure that the process is smooth for everyone,” Lundeen said. “You walk into your polling place and you haven't viewed your sample ballot, you may have some questions that are specifically local to where you're voting that you may not have been prepared for.”
West Columbia resident Jackie Benton says for her, registering to vote - and voting- is incredibly important.
“The people that are in your city council, they're the people that decide what city services that you get,” Banton said. “They're the people that support your fire department. They're the people that support your police department. They fund them, you know, they look for grants, they control the city staff, you know. I mean, all of the city council people, the mayors, all of the local elections are very important.”
The election commission says 51% of registered voters voted in 2022.