By Skylar Laird
SCDailyGazette.com
COLUMBIA — More South Carolinians turned out to vote early this year than in any previous statewide primary election.
Nearly 319,000 ballots were cast during the two weeks leading up to Tuesday’s election, according to the State Election Commission.
That’s more than double the number of people who voted early in the 2024 primary, and more than triple the turnout two years before, following the law establishing no-excuse-needed early voting.
Early voting lasted two weeks, beginning May 26 and running every weekday through last Friday. Day one drew the highest number of voters, with 56,407 ballots cast.
Many of those voters showed up in a successful effort to quash debate in the Senate over redrawing the state’s congressional maps, which would involve pushing back that primary and discarding already-cast ballots.
Nearly 64% of ballots cast as of last Tuesday, the most recent data available, were for the Democratic ticket. Voters don’t register by party in South Carolina. When they get to the polls, they request to vote in either the Republican or Democratic primary.
Another 11,000 people voted absentee, according to the election commission.
Voters will decide the nominees for governor, along with statewide constitutional officers, and both congressional and state representatives.
Primary runoffs, as needed, are set for June 23. In South Carolina, if no candidate gets at least 50% plus one vote in a primary, the top two vote-getters advance to a runoff.
Voters in one party’s primary can’t switch to the other party’s runoff ballot. They must stick with one party for the primary and runoff. In other words, people who vote a Democratic primary ballot can’t vote in the Republican runoffs two weeks later, and vice-versa.
The nominees advance to the Nov. 3 general election.
Skylar Laird covers the South Carolina Legislature and criminal justice issues. Originally from Missouri, she previously worked for The Post and Courier’s Columbia bureau.
S.C. Daily Gazette is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.