Absentee Voting by Mail
South Carolina only permits certain qualified voters to vote absentee by mail. This includes voters who are prevented from voting during early voting or on Election Day because they:
Have employment obligations
Are assisting a sick or physically disabled person
Are confined to jail or a pretrial facility pending disposition of an arrest or trial
Have physical disabilities
Are 65 years old or older
Are members or spouses and dependents of members of the U.S. Armed Forces and Merchant Marines
Are admitted to a hospital as an emergency patient on Election Day or four days before an election
Are absent from their county of residence
Steps for voting absentee by mail and tracking an absentee ballot are available online and include the following:
Request an application.
As early as January 1 of the election year, request an absentee ballot application from your county voter registration office by phone, U.S. mail, or in person. Requests must include name, date of birth, and last four digits of your Social Security number. An application will then be mailed.
1
Request a ballot.
Return the application by U.S. mail or personal delivery to your county voter registration office as soon as possible, but no later than 5 p.m. on the 11th day prior to the election. For the 2026 General Election, this is October 23.
2
Complete your ballot.
Be sure to carefully follow all instructions and sign the voter’s oath and have your signature witnessed. Anyone age 18 or older can witness your signature. A notary is not necessary.
3
Return your ballot.
Ballots must be received by the county voter registration office by 7 p.m. on Election Day, by mail or personal delivery. Ballots can also be returned to an early voting center. When returning the ballot in person, you must present photo ID. Acceptable forms of ID are:
Driver’s license issued by a state within the United States
Another form of identification containing a photograph issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles or its equivalent by a state within the United States
U.S. passport
Military identification containing a photograph issued by the federal government
South Carolina voter registration card containing a photograph of the voter
4
Assistance Laws for Absentee Voting
If voting absentee, a person can receive assistance requesting an application, returning an application, or returning a ballot from an immediate family member (spouse, parent, child, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law) or authorized representative if certain conditions are met.
Assistants are limited to five requests in addition to their own per election and five returns in addition to their own per election, and certain steps require specific additional forms and/or must take place in person when done by a third party.