Absentee voting is now open for the Feb. 29 primary election by mail or in person. The deadline to return an absentee by mail application is Feb. 25, and the deadline to vote absentee in person is Feb. 28.
People wishing to vote absentee can do so either in person or via mail.
To vote absentee in person, visit the county voter registration office in your county of residence, complete an application, and cast your ballot. You may vote absentee in person up until 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. Rules for photo ID required to vote at the polling place apply.
Voting absentee via mail requires requesting an application (either use this link to request an application online or obtain one from the county voter registration office in your county of residence by phone, mail, email, or fax), returning an application, receiving a ballot, and submitting a ballot all through the postal service. Voters can preview their ballot through a tool on the S.C. State Election commission’s website, scvotes.org.
Please note that South Carolina does not have early voting; however, South Carolina residents can vote absentee if they have a reasonable excuse or if they are aged 65 or older. The only difference between in-person absentee voting and early voting available in other states is that for early voting, nobody needs to provide a reason why they wish to vote before election day.
Persons qualified to vote by absentee ballot:
- Members of the Armed Forces or Merchant Marine serving outside their county of residence and their spouses and dependents residing with them (click here for additional information)
- Persons serving with the American Red Cross or with the United Service Organizations (USO) who are attached to and serving with the Armed Forces outside their county of residence and their spouses and dependents residing with them
- Overseas Citizens (click here for additional information)
- Persons who are physically disabled
- Students attending school outside their county of residence and their spouses and dependents residing with them
- Persons who for reasons of employment will not be able to vote on election day
- Government employees serving outside their county of residence on Election Day and their spouses and dependents residing with them
- Persons who plan to be on vacation outside their county of residence on Election Day
- Persons serving as a juror in state or federal court on Election Day
- Persons admitted to the hospital as emergency patients on Election Day or within a four-day period before the election
- Persons with a death or funeral in the family within three days before the election
- Persons confined to a jail or pre-trial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial
- Persons attending sick or physically disabled persons
- Certified poll watchers, poll managers, and county election officials working on Election Day
- Persons sixty-five years of age or older
- Persons who for religious reasons do not want to vote on a Saturday (Presidential Primaries Only)
Please visit scvotes.org/absentee-voting for additional information on absentee voting.