Early voting in the U.S. Senate special Republican primary opened Wednesday at four locations across York and Lancaster Counties and closes at 5 p.m. Friday, according to the South Carolina Election Commission.
The primary itself is Tuesday, Aug. 11. Voters who miss the early voting window will need to report to their assigned election day polling place.
Where to vote in York County
York County has two early voting centers. The Fire Training Center of York County is at 2500 McFarland Road in York. The second site is the Holiday Inn Rock Hill, at 503 Galleria Blvd. in Rock Hill, where voting is set up in the hotel meeting rooms.
Where to vote in Lancaster County
Lancaster County also has two centers. One is the county voter registration office at 101 N. Main Street in Lancaster. The other is Del Webb at 7641 Charlotte Highway in Indian Land, the northern end of the county closest to Fort Mill and the state line.
Both counties operate their centers from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Voters may use any early voting center in their own county and are not limited to the one nearest their home. There is no early voting on the weekend, since the window ends Friday.
Who is eligible
The Election Commission has drawn a line based on the June primaries. Voters who cast a ballot in the June Democratic primary cannot vote in the Aug. 11 special Republican primary. Voters who took part in the June Republican primary, and voters who sat out both June primaries, are eligible.
The commission said the restriction follows state law governing participation in party primaries. South Carolina does not register voters by party, so eligibility here turns on primary voting history rather than party affiliation.
What to bring
Voters must present photo identification at the early voting center. Accepted forms include a South Carolina driver’s license, a state issued photo identification card, a voter registration card with a photo, a federal military identification card, or a U.S. passport. The process at an early voting center is the same as at a polling place on election day, using the same voting equipment.
Voters who want to see what will be on their ballot before they go can pull up a sample ballot through the MyscVOTES portal at scvotes.gov. The same portal shows registration status and assigned polling place.
Early voting turnout figures for the special primary are posted on the Election Commission’s voter registration and participation statistics page and update through the week.
Polls on Aug. 11 will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Source: South Carolina Election Commission, scvotes.gov.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
