Let’s get to work to ensure a problem-free November election in South Carolina

South Carolina’s June 9 primaries were an important learning experience, and the League of Women Voters of South Carolina thanks the local and state election officials who dealt with the challenges of a new voting system and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, there were occasional problems throughout South Carolina that require remedial action before November — and this was especially true in Richland County. We must identify these problems and make changes to ensure that all future elections are safe, efficient and can be trusted to represent legitimate expressions of the will of South Carolina’s voters.

So how do we get there?

Clearly it is essential to make expanded absentee voting available for all South Carolinians in November — just as it was in June.

Because the pandemic will continue into next year, election poll workers and places will remain in very short supply — and that will make it extremely unwise to rely heavily on in-person voting in November. That’s why expanding absentee voting should be the first priority of the General Assembly when it returns in September.

There are several more specific measures that would also help.

While the expansion of South Carolina’s existing absentee system largely went well in June, voting absentee by mail in South Carolina remains a somewhat cumbersome process. There is a need to make the voting instructions — from the application process to the postage requirements — more user-friendly.

We also believe that in-person voters should be given a choice between using the new voting machines or hand-marked paper ballots. The scanners used with the ExpressVote machines can also be used for hand marked paper ballots to grow polling place capacity without major cost. This option would be very helpful in November when voter turnout will be much higher than in June.

Richland County has often had voting issues on election days in the past and, unfortunately, it once again had an exceptional number of problems during the June primary. Some Richland County voters were not notified of their new consolidated polling places — and voters who did find their polling locations were sometimes given incorrect ballots. Meanwhile, many Richland voters had to wait in inexcusably long lines just to cast their ballots.

These problems were not unique to Richland County on June 9, but they were far more common in the county than elsewhere.

This is a problem that starts at the top.

The system by which county election offices are overseen in South Carolina is unusual: county legislative delegations appoint county election commissioners who choose county election directors — yet it’s up to county councils to find the money to fund election offices.

Obviously this system is a flawed one, but that’s a dialogue for another day.

For now, the main issue must be to ensure that Richland County has a trouble-free election in November.

That’s why the Richland County delegation must move immediately to approve a new commissioner to fill a vacancy created by a recent resignation.

The commissioners must move quickly to hire an experienced and very capable director to fill that vacant office.

Once hired, the director must put a rock-solid plan in place to effectively prepare for and conduct the November election.

And, finally, the Richland delegation must commit to backing this effort and avoiding politicizing management decisions.

There is a lot to be done.

Our democracy depends on it.

Christe McCoy Lawrence and Holley Ulbrich are co-presidents of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina.