The U.S. Department of Justice and the State of South Carolina have reached an agreement to ensure military personnel, their families and U.S. citizens living overseas have the opportunity to vote in the upcoming special Republican primary and any runoff election to fill the U.S. Senate seat vacated by the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
The agreement addresses potential concerns under the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), which guarantees voting rights for military and overseas citizens in federal elections.
Under the agreement, South Carolina will send absentee ballots by Aug. 1 to eligible military and overseas voters who have requested ballots for elections through December 2027. Voters will be able to return their ballots electronically, by express mail or by postal mail before the 7 p.m. deadline on Aug. 11.
To account for the possibility of a runoff election on Aug. 25, ballots will include an instant runoff voting option, allowing eligible voters to rank a preferred runoff candidate in advance.
The state must also notify eligible military and overseas voters who have not already requested ballots about the special election deadlines by July 24 and offer to send ballots electronically if requested.
In addition, South Carolina will publicize voting deadlines and the availability of the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot to ensure eligible military and overseas voters have the information needed to participate in the special election.
The special Republican primary is scheduled for Aug. 11, with a runoff, if necessary, on Aug. 25.
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Patrick Byrne lives in Tega Cay with his wife and two daughters. After 25 years working for a Big 4 bank, he retired to pursue his passion for writing. Additional articles and content can be found on his blog (reverian1776.blogspot.com) and freethepeople.org.
Patrick can be reach via email at [email protected]
