Tips for first-time voters as South Carolina primary looms
COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina will be in the spotlight with both the Democratic and Republican primaries.
People across the state will head to the polls, but, there are options if you can’t vote on the day of the primary.
The early voting period for the Democratic primary is still open and will close Feb. 2. The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot for the Democratic primary has already ed.
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However, if you already have a ballot, you must have it in by 7 p.m. on Feb. 3.
The Republican primary is Feb. 24, which is three weeks after the Democratic primary.
The deadline to apply for an absentee ballot for the Republican primary is Feb. 13 with the deadline to return ballot of 7 p.m. on Feb. 24.
John Catalano, outreach coordinator with the South Carolina Elections Commission, spoke about early voting and voting absentee.
“The documents that you need to vote absentee for number one is the absentee application,” he said. “You can get that from your county voter registration office. You can give them a call or go visit them in person to get them to send you one of those applications. After you submit that, and you get your absentee ballot back, the only thing that you really need is to just complete the ballot, sign the voters oath that’s on the envelope and have a witness sign it and a witness can be anybody that’s 18 or older.”
Catalano said if a ballot is sent back to you, the best thing to do is return the ballot in person.
For additional tips on voting early or to find out where you are zoned to vote, you can head to SCvotes.gov for more.
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