What you need to know to vote Tuesday in GOP runoff for Columbia Senate seat

Republican voters in much of Columbia and the surrounding area will be asked to head to the polls one more time before November’s general election.

On Tuesday, voters in Senate District 20 — which includes portions of Richland and Lexington counties — will choose the Republican nominee in a runoff from the special election two weeks ago.

GOP voters will choose between Ballentine attorney Benjamin Dunn and John Holler, the president of Epworth Children’s Home. The winner will face Democrat Dick Harpootlian on Nov. 6 to fill the remaining two years of former Sen. John Courson’s term.

Courson resigned in June and pleaded guilty to misconduct in office related to misusing his campaign spending account, triggering the special election.

Here is what you need to know:

Who can vote?

South Carolina does not register voters by party, so virtually every voter in the district can to vote in Tuesday’s runoff.

Well, except for the voters who cast a ballot in the Aug. 14 Democratic primary, won by Columbia attorney and former state Democratic Party chairman Dick Harpootlian.

Registered voters who did not vote in either the Democratic or Republican primaries two weeks ago can still vote in the runoff.

When and where do I vote?

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. If you are standing in line at 7 p.m., the polls must stay open until you cast your ballot.

District 20 stretches from the southern neighborhoods of downtown Columbia north up Interstate 26 into portions of Lexington County. Thirty-nine District 20 precincts are in Richland County, while nine are in Lexington County.

You can find out if you are in the district and locate your polling place online at SCVotes.org.

Who’s running?

Dunn and Holler overcame smaller campaign war chests to make the runoff in the Aug. 14 Republican primary, ahead of attorney Christian Stegmaier and insurance agent Bill Turbeville.

Dunn, who won 32 percent of the vote from 3,900 voters in the first round, comes from the more Republican-leaning suburbs of northwestern Richland County and has emphasized conservative positions on tax issues, government restructuring and term limits.

Holler, an ordained United Methodist minister who finished in second place with 25 percent of the vote, has used his background working with needy and underprivileged children to mold his campaign platform around better family services and improvements at the Department of Social Services.

What do I need to vote?

To vote, you need either an S.C. driver’s license, a photo ID issued by the state Department of Motor Vehicles, a photo voter registration card, a military ID or a U.S. passport.

However, would-be voters without a photo ID can vote if they can cite a “reasonable impediment” to getting one. Among the acceptable excuses: a disability or illness, a work conflict, a lack of transportation, family responsibilities, a lack of a birth certificate or a religious objection to being photographed.

This story was originally published August 27, 2018 at 1:41 PM.