COLUMBIA, S.C. — There are now only three days left for those wanting to cast their vote ahead of next week's primary election.
This is the second week of early voting in South Carolina and so far there have been 38,508 votes cast from across the state as of June 6th.
In Richland County nearly 3,297 registered voters have turned in their ballots. Richland County's Voter Registration & Elections second office on Hampton Street has reported 189 ballots since the kick-off of early voting.
The South Carolina Elections Commission says those numbers show a great start and added Monday was the biggest jump in voting for the state and Richland County.
Deputy Executive Director of the South Carolina Elections Commissions Chris Whitmire said "Every day that it's been open we've seen an increase from day to day."
Whitmire explains the South Carolina Elections Commission is expecting that number to continue to increase. "The closer you get to election day the more people say hey I need to vote what are my options here, " he said.
Whitmire says the process has gone smoothly considering the passing of the No-Excuse Needed Early Voting Law in May, "we worked hard over those two weeks to invent a process we had never done before."
As for whether early voting will become the primary form of voting in South Carolina, Whitmire says, "from our experience in 2020 we know from other states' experience, with similar early voting rules, that ultimately once early voting is fully implemented and people are aware of it that you end up with more people voting before election day than on election day, we might not get there this time but I expect that would become the norm."
Dorothy and her husband James Patterson are two of the people taking advantage of early voting in Kershaw County.
Dorothy says "Well I just wanted to get out before the crowd and it was so easy, everything was easy, everybody was perfect, nice, and friendly, so I'm glad we came out." Her husband James says "come out and vote early, it's a convenient thing to do, and it's real easy and simple,".
For those wanting to take advantage of the final days of early voting, sites will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., until Friday, for information on locations near you, click here.