Act 150 Changes Voting Laws

The General Assembly passed Act 150 in May 2022, establishing early voting and changing the process for absentee voting statewide. The South Carolina Election Commission’s Outreach and Special Projects Coordinator John Michael Catalano joined the Association’s Annual Meeting to explain the effect of the changes to municipal elections. 

 

During the pandemic and elections of 2020, several rules about in-person absentee voting existed to help voters with social distancing during the pandemic. To ensure consistency the in-person absentee voting process is now replaced with a standard two-week early voting period. 

 

For statewide elections, like the one coming in November 2022, voting hours will be Monday to Saturday for the two weeks before the election, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., with polls closed during this time on Sundays and holidays. For other elections, such as municipal elections and primaries, the hours will be slightly shorter: Mondays to Fridays, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

Catalano noted that early voting turnout was low for the June primary this year, with about 100,000 people voting early out of about 565,000 voters total. Other states with early voting have seen the early voter numbers eventually increase to 50% of all voters, he said.

 

“We’re expecting them to increase as voter education improves,” Catalano said. 

 

Four of the previously existing reasons for absentee voting are still in place: the voter has physical disabilities, is 65 or older, is in the military or has family in the military, or is admitted to the hospital within four days of election day. 

 

The law now has new reasons to allow absentee voting as well: employment obligations, attending to a sick or disabled person; confinement to a jail or pretrial facility, or absence from the person’s county of residence. Those who vote absentee for any of these reasons must be absent for the entire early voting period and election day. Applications can be requested by phone, mail or in person at the county office.