COLUMBIA, S.C. — State senators are fast tracking two election reform bills ahead of the 2022 elections.
In a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting Tuesday Senators discussed changes to the way South Carolina conducts its elections.
The measure, passed unanimously by the House last month, includes an ID for requirement for those voting with absentee ballots, a guaranteed number of voting sites in every precinct, and two weeks of in-person, no excuse early voting.
Isaac Cramer of the Charleston County Board of Elections urged senators to act quickly before the June Primaries.
"When it comes to early voting, and it comes to the opening of the absentee ballots, we would ask that you would pass this bill because the time is of the essence," said Cramer. "Every day that passes that this bill does not go to the governor's desk is another day where we need to get that to get that information out to the public."
The proposed changes come after a record number of South Carolinians voted early in the 2020 election, when the state offered the option due to the pandemic.
Under the bill, people would not need a reason to vote early in person, as they do now. It also implements processes for State employees to audit election results and create new enforcement procedures for potential voter fraud.
As the bill is written now, voters 65 and up would be allowed to vote absentee. Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey R-Edgefield
"I think if you create an early voting period you shouldn't have that excuse,” said Massey.
The bills will be discussed in depth on the Senate floor Wednesday.