Here’s what we will — and won’t — know on election night in SC midterms
South Carolinians will soon get to cast their votes for the midterms, but when and how will those ballots be counted?
South Carolina midterm election polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. As long as you are in line by 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote. Early voting has already been underway since October and ended Saturday.
Election Day has changed in recent years, with a wider use of vote-by-mail across the U.S. Most people will likely visit a physical poll, but however you choose to vote, your ballot is counted and certified the same way.
What will you know on election night in South Carolina?
You’ll see early, unofficial results on election night. We’ll probably have a sense of the winner of races that are not closely contested.
What won’t you know?
Official election results won’t be known on election night. County boards of voter registration and elections certify results by Friday following election day.
How does South Carolina count ballots?
The State Election Commission requires hand-count audits to be conducted in all counties before certification of any federal or state-level election. Voters verify their votes on their paper ballot before casting it. The hand-count audit is designed to ensure the votes recorded by the scanners match what was verified by the voters.
In a hand-count audit:
- Precincts and offices are selected for the audit by the SEC for each county in federal and state-level elections. Local election officials select the precincts and offices for local elections.
- Election officials publicly open the ballot box for the selected precinct(s) and hand count the votes for the selected office on the voter-verified paper ballots.
How can I trust the accuracy of election results?
South Carolina has a statewide, paper-based voting system featuring ballot-marking devices (BMDs) and scanners for in-person voting and hand-marked paper ballots for absentee voting. Using BMDs helps make voting more accessible and creates a paper record of every ballot cast. Ballots scanned at polling places are automatically fed into a locked and sealed ballot box below the scanner.
The SEC works with the Department of Homeland Security to regularly assess the security of each location in all 46 counties to identify potential vulnerabilities and improve security. County election offices keep detailed logs of where voting equipment is stored along with information about who, when and where someone may have accessed a storage facility. Also, the voting system is never connected to the internet.
Election transparency:
- The public and media can observe the election process at polling places from opening of the polls to closing of the polls and vote tabulation.
- Candidates and political parties can appoint poll watchers to observe at polling places.
- The public and media can observe the return of ballots and equipment and tabulation of votes on election night.
When and where will election results be reported?
The State Election Commission will report unofficial results on election night at scVOTES.gov.
Results are reported as the SEC receives them from each county elections offices. Results are also reported locally at each polling place and at county elections offices.
This story was originally published November 7, 2022 at 2:59 PM.
