Monday, May 11, is the last day to send in a completed voter registration form for the primary election taking place June 9. (File photo provided by Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections)
COLUMBIA — Monday is the final day for South Carolina residents to newly register to vote if they want to cast a ballot in the June 9 primaries.
Online registration ended Sunday night, but the State Election Commission will still accept any printed voter registration applications postmarked by Monday. Early voting runs from May 26 to June 5.
As of last week, nearly 3.4 million South Carolinians were registered to vote, according to the State Election Commission.
Voters will decide which of the six Republicans and three Democrats running for governor will appear on the November ballot. Also up for election are all 124 seats in the state House of Representatives.
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Candidates for elected statewide officers will appear on the ballot as well.
That includes two competitive contests for GOP nominations as attorney general and commissioner of agriculture.
On Democrats’ ballots, there are primary races for education superintendent, secretary of state, treasurer, and comptroller general.
Both parties’ ballots include a race for U.S. Senate, as Lindsey Graham faces challengers from both sides.
Ballots will include candidates for Congress, though state legislators are considering delaying that primary until August.
A House subcommittee advanced a bill Friday that would reschedule congressional primaries for August amid a push to redraw district lines. The full House Judiciary Committee will take up that bill Tuesday.
Whether the Legislature pursues redistricting ultimately depends on the Senate, which is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution that sets the rules for the off-session. Two-thirds approval in the Senate is needed to allow debate on redistricting after the regular session ends at 5 p.m. Thursday.
But even if congressional elections are delayed, ballots for June are already printed, so it’s too late to remove those races, the state elections director told legislators.
As of Friday, the commission had mailed nearly 6,830 absentee ballots and gotten 260 back, according to commission data. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. May 29.
Registered voters can view a sample ballot, find their polling place and check their registration status on the State Election Commission’s website.
Courtesy of South Carolina Daily Gazette
