Early voting for SC runoff elections starts Wednesday. What you need to know
South Carolina voters have three days starting Wednesday to cast their primary runoff ballot early in races that will help decide the Republican nominee for state schools superintendent and the Democrat who will face U.S. Sen. Tim Scott in November.
The state’s early voting window opens Wednesday and runs to 5 p.m. Friday.
Election Day for runoffs is June 28. Polls will open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
South Carolina voters who cast ballots in the June 14 Republican primary can only cast a ballot in the GOP runoff. The rule is the same for anyone who asked for a Democratic ballot in the primary.
And registered S.C. voters who did not cast a ballot in the June 14 primary can still vote in the June 28 runoff elections, choosing either a Republican or Democratic ballot.
Early voting locations can be found on the State Election Commission’s website, or scvotes.org. Some polling places have changed for the runoffs. A photo ID is required.
The deadline to return an absentee ballot is 7 p.m. June 28. A photo ID will also be required to return the ballot in person.
The State Election Commission last Friday certified all results of the June 14 statewide primary, leaving two statewide races to be decided June 28.
The Democratic primary for U.S. Senate sets state Rep. Krystal Matthews, D-Berkeley, against Catherine Fleming Bruce, an activist and educator from Columbia. Bruce has raised around $26,000, and Matthews has raised more than $100,000 this cycle.
In November, the winner will face Republican Sen. Tim Scott, one of the top fundraisers who has more than $24 million left in the bank according to the latest federal fundraising filings.
There also will be a runoff between Kathy Maness and Ellen Weaver in the Republican primary for state superintendent of education. Maness is a Lexington town councilwoman and executive director of South Carolina’s largest teachers advocacy group, the Palmetto State Teachers Association. Weaver is president and CEO of the conservative think tank Palmetto Promise Institute.
There are a handful of other legislative seats to be decided in Tuesday’s runoff.
They include one State House race where two legislators are pitted against each other after their districts were merged in the latest redistricting shakeup.
Tuesday’s primary runoff will decide which Democrat — Florence County Rep. Roger Kirby or Williamsburg County Rep. Cezar McKnight — will represent the new House District 101.
Both have served their previously separate districts for seven years.
Other State House races to be decided in the runoffs include:
▪ House District 25: Wendell Jones versus Derrick Quarles (Democrat)
▪ House District 30: Brian Lawson versus Jimbo Martin (Republican)
▪ House District 40: Joe White versus Tammy Johns (Republican)
▪ House District 48: Brandon Guffey versus Elizabeth Enns (Republican)
▪ House District 106: Val Guest versus Brian Sweeney (Republican)
At the local there, there are nine Democratic county runoffs, and eight Republican county races.
This is the first early voting period for South Carolina in a runoff after the state became the 45th state to enact early voting.
More than 100,000 South Carolina voters cast ballots early in the June primaries.
Overall turnout, however, was down.
In all, about 17% of registered S.C. voters — 564,000 out of about 3.3 million registered voters — cast ballots in the June 14 primaries.
