Who’s eligible, ways to vote: What SC voters need to know about upcoming runoffs

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A week from Tuesday, around 30 runoff elections will take place across South Carolina.

These are for races in which no candidate received a majority of votes during last week’s primaries, ranging from local races like sheriffs and county council to seats representing South Carolinians on Capitol Hill and at the State House.

“You’re picking the candidates that are either going to run against someone from the other party or if they’re unopposed, that’s a mainline right to that office in November,” Sara Ballard, executive director of the nonpartisan organization South Carolina Women in Leadership, said.

That is especially the case throughout much of South Carolina, where the vast majority of legislative districts lean heavily toward one party or the other, making them uncompetitive in a general election.

But the South Carolina Election Commission said runoffs are usually low-turnout races, with most garnering single-digit turnout among eligible voters.

“With such low turnout, your vote really goes further, so it really matters,” John Michael Catalano with the South Carolina Election Commission said.

The first thing to know is who’s eligible to vote in runoffs.

For starters, you must be a registered voter in the district or county where the runoff is.

If you voted in last week’s primary for that race, you are only eligible to vote in the runoff for that same party.

For example, if you voted in a Democratic primary, and there is now a Republican runoff for that race, you are not eligible to vote in that runoff.

“But if you didn’t vote in the primaries at all, you still can vote in the runoffs, and you can pick either party,” Catalano said. “You don’t have to vote in the primary to vote in the runoffs.”

As with last week’s primaries, South Carolinians have three ways to vote in runoffs, but they are on a condensed timeline.

People who meet certain qualifications can vote absentee by mail, like if they are 65 or older.

If you voted this way for the primary and checked a box on your absentee ballot request form that asked for you to be sent a runoff ballot if one of those races advanced to a runoff, the South Carolina Election Commission will send that to you.

But if you did not do that and want to request a mail-in ballot, that deadline has already passed.

The Election Commission is asking absentee voters to return their mail-in ballots in person, if they can.

“Because that’s just faster and you can cut out the mail that way. But if you’re not able to do that — you’re living too far away or whatever reason — just be sure to drop that in the mail as soon as possible,” Catalano said.

But there are still other ways to vote, including three days of in-person early voting.

That starts this Wednesday and will run through Friday, at locations in every county where there is a runoff, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Locations can be found here.)

“It’s a tight schedule, so we’re really urging voters not to delay, vote as soon as you’re able to,” Catalano said.

Eligible voters can also head to the polls on runoff day, which is next week Tuesday, June 25.

Polls will be open that day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the counties where there is at least one runoff.

South Carolinians voting in person, or if they are voting absentee by mail and returning their ballot in person, will need to bring a photo ID with them.

The following is a list of all runoffs that will be held on June 25, sorted by county:

Abbeville

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican

Allendale

• County Council, District 1 – Democratic

Anderson

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican
• State House of Representative, District 9 – Republican

Calhoun

• State House of Representatives, District 93 – Democratic
• State Senate, District 26 – Republican

Charleston

Colleton

• Clerk of Court – Democratic

Dillon

• County Council, District 1 – Democratic
• County Council, District 3 – Democratic

Edgefield

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican

Georgetown

• County Council, District 3 – Democratic

Greenville

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican
• State Senate, District 6 – Republican
• State Senate, District 12 – Republican
• State House of Representatives, District 28 – Republican
• County Council, District 20 – Republican
• County Council, District 22 – Republican
• County Council, District 25 – Democratic

Greenwood

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican
• State Senate, District 10 – Republican

Kershaw

• State Senate, District 35 – Democratic
• State Senate, District 35 – Republican

Laurens

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican
• County Council, District 7 – Republican

Lee

• State Senate, District 35 – Democratic
• State Senate, District 35 – Republican

Lexington

• State Senate, District 10 – Republican
• State Senate, District 23 – Republican
• State Senate, District 26 – Republican
• State House of Representatives, District 93 – Democratic

McCormick

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican

Newberry

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican

Oconee

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican

Orangeburg

• State House of Representatives, District 93 – Democratic
• Coroner – Democratic

Pickens

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican
• Sheriff – Republican
• County Council, District 5 – Republican

Richland

• State Senate, District 22 – Democratic
• State Senate, District 26 – Republican
• State Senate, District 35 – Democratic
• State Senate, District 35 – Republican

Saluda

• US House of Representatives, District 3 – Republican
• State Senate, District 10 – Republican
• Probate Judge – Republican
• Spartanburg
• State Senate, District 12 – Republican
• State House of Representatives, District 34 – Republican
• County Council, District 4 – Republican

Sumter

• State Senate, District 35 – Democratic
• State Senate, District 35 – Republican

York

Feel more informed, prepared, and connected with WIS. For more free content like this, subscribe to our email newsletter, and download our apps. Have feedback that can help us improve? Click here.

Copyright 2024 WIS. All rights reserved.