Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2020. South Carolina offers absentee ballots by mail to voters who will be unable to vote in person. All other voters are expected to vote in person.
Vote in person
Vote on Election Day
Voters registered in South Carolina can look up where to vote on South Carolina’s site.
No early voting
South Carolina does not offer an early voting period. If you will be unable to vote in person on Election Day, you can request an absentee ballot by mail or by visiting your local election office.
What to bring
- You will be asked to show photo ID to vote in South Carolina. Acceptable forms include: South Carolina driver’s license or South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles ID Card (includes standard license and REAL ID); South Carolina Concealed Weapons Permit; South Carolina voter registration card with photo; US military ID (Includes all Department of Defense Photo IDs and Veterans Affairs Benefits Card); or US passport (Includes US Passport ID Card).
- Voters without ID: If you have a reasonable impediment to obtaining photo ID, you may vote a provisional ballot after showing your non-photo voter registration card. If you do not have photo ID and do not have a reasonable impediment to obtaining one, or you simply forgot to bring it with you to the polls, you may still vote a provisional ballot. However, for your vote to be counted, you must provide one of the photo IDs to the election commission prior to certification of the election (usually Thursday or Friday after the election).
Who can vote
You have to register to vote before Election Day in South Carolina. You can find the deadline to register to vote in the “Dates and deadlines” section.
To register in South Carolina you must:
- be a United States citizen
- be at least eighteen years old on or before the next election
- be a resident of South Carolina in the county and precinct in which you are registering
- not be under a court order declaring you mentally incompetent
- not be confined in any public prison resulting from a conviction of a crime
- *find more information on voting rights restoration here
Vote by mail
- Review the absentee ballot application and confirm that you meet the eligibility requirements for voting absentee.
- Fill out the application completely.
- Submit the request to your local election office. You should request your ballot as far in advance of the election as possible. The deadline to request a ballot by mail is (received by) Friday, October 30, 2020.
- When your ballot arrives, read it carefully and follow the instructions to complete it and return it.