SC Senate expands November absentee voting to all due to COVID-19. Up next, the House
The South Carolina Senate on Wednesday unanimously voted to expand absentee voting to all registered S.C. voters ahead of the Nov. 3 general election out of COVID-19 concerns, an action in line with the state election chief’s recommendations and motivated in part by looming legal action.
But in their 41-0 vote, senators also voted to eliminate the State Election Commission’s plans to add more drop boxes for collecting ballots and keep the absentee ballot witness signature — one measure a judge removed before the June primary citing the danger of forcing voters to make contact with other people during COVID-19.
Before the absentee voting expansion and other changes take place, the S.C. House must agree and the bill must go before Gov. Henry McMaster who has not weighed in on the legislation but has left questions about expanding absentee voting up to the Legislature.
“Lawsuits aside, ladies and gentleman, it is the General Assembly’s exclusive duty and responsibility to decide how to govern the state elections — a pandemic or otherwise. Not the judiciary,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield. “We were elected to represent the citizens of this state.”
In the State House lobby right outside the Senate chamber, which has seen low foot traffic during the virus outbreak, a small group of women representing the S.C. Women for Trump Columbia chapter held signs, calling on senators in part to keep the witness signature requirement.
“We just want to make sure that we have a fair election,” said chapter president Pamela Godwin. “And we believe, that to have a fair election, we must have current ID and witness signature. Pretty much anyone can have access to that.”
Godwin said they support the absentee voter expansion only if it includes those requirements.
“And we don’t want any special drop boxes — we’re against that,” Godwin added. “We’re just for a fair election, we want it to stand as we always have with even ore expansive measures of security.”
The changes made Wednesday, Massey said, “will protect the safety of the voter and the integrity of the vote.”
“We are not changing permanent law today,” Massey said.
The expansion is similar to what lawmakers did in May ahead of the June primary when, after a spike in COVID-19 cases in the state, counties decided to consolidate precincts, and poll workers, many older and susceptible to contracting the virus, chose to stay home instead of working.
It also comes on the heels of a petition to the South Carolina Supreme Court to expand absentee voting, federal lawsuits seeking the same goal and a letter from state election chief Marci Andino urging lawmakers to expand absentee voting with enough time to give county election officials time to prepare.
The Senate bill now heads to the House, which last month rejected requests to return and vote earlier.
Instead, leaders kept their Sept. 15 scheduled return, saying that still should give the State Election Commission enough time to make any changes to the absentee voting law that would include the addition of a state of emergency exemption.
House Majority Leader Gary Simrill, R-York, told reporters last month the House would be on board with changes.
He said then that would include allowing election officials to open outer envelopes of absentee ballots before Election Day, possibly even earlier than the Monday before the election.
There are some big differences between the Senate plan and what lawmakers did before the June primaries, when there were reports of long lines at some precincts in Richland County, in particular.
For example, under the Senate’s legislation, county election officials will be able to open the outer envelope of the absentee ballot at 7 a.m. Sunday, two days before Election Day, significantly cutting the time it will take to count votes.
And the Senate also voted to move up the deadline for returning an absentee ballot application. They must be received by the county before 5 p.m. on Oct. 24 if submitted by mail and 5 p.m. on Oct. 30 if submitted in person.
Still, Democrats criticized the legislation in whole, arguing voters can still be disenfranchised by the changes.
Voting “should not be a life or death situation,” said state Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Richland, who has sickle cell anemia and had until Wednesday avoided coming to the State House after the virus spread across the state. “We say we’re family. I’m just asking that we do what families do.”
State Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, meanwhile, questioned disallowing drop boxes when they’ve been used before.
Last week, state election spokesman Chris Whitmire told The State the agency had planned to install more drop boxes across the state, on top of adding satellite offices in more than a dozen counties to curb voter traffic.
But Wednesday, Whitmire said, while no cash had been spent, all 54 drop boxes that were ordered at the request of counties were going to be canceled.
“There’s not one single instance of fraud or some sort of event that would cause you to have any concerns about drop boxes,” said Harpootlian, whose multiple attempts to amend the bill were rejected. “I think a lot of it seemed to be oriented toward exclusion, not inclusion and wasting money.”
Massey told reporters after the vote Wednesday that as of three weeks ago, the state’s top law enforcement agency was investigating at least three allegations of voter fraud in the absentee ballot process. The State Law Enforcement Division did not return a request for details or confirmation of the alleged fraud cases by deadline.
Massey also defended keeping the witness requirement — despite the courts removing it — and ensuring voters can only mail or deliver their ballots in person.
“The fact that there may be few allegations of voter fraud is not really an argument to undermine our anti-fraud laws,” Massey told reporters. “It is an argument that those laws are working, so we don’t need to undermine them.”
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that the Senate voted to move up the deadline for returning an absentee ballot application. They must be received by the county before 5 p.m. on Oct. 24 if submitted by mail and 5 p.m. on Oct. 30 if submitted in person.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 2:50 PM.
