This past week resulted in the fantastic news out of Columbia that for the June 9, 2020 primaries, everybody is entitled to an Absentee, mail-in ballot without needing to provide one of the normal excuses that are part of South Carolina voting laws.
I just submitted my Absentee Ballot request today. Read below to see how straightforward it is.
This article assumes a couple of things:
- You have a Printer that you can print to
- You are able to open a PDF file
If either of those are not possible, you can e-mail us (info@gwdcountydems.org) or call us (864-715-2341) and we’ll do our best to assist you. You always can reach out to the Greenwood County Voter Registration office directly at (864) 942-8521
Step 1: Go to SCVotes.org
SCVotes.org is run by the South Carolina Election Commission. They’ve done a fantastic job creating a clear & complete reference for all things related to elections in SC.
Navigate to that site and click “Get My Absentee Application”.
Step 2: Request an Application
At this step, you need to get a form to mail in that requests an Absentee Ballot. This isn’t the ballot itself – just a request for one.
Click “Use this link” to fill out an online form that will lead to a document for you to print out.
Choose your County.
Then enter in your name as it appears on your Voter Registration card. Note below that I used “William” and not “Bill” (which wouldn’t work).
Finally, enter your Date of Birth and the last 4 digits of your Social Security number. This is necessary to validate your identity.
Click “Submit:
Step 3: Fill out Request Form
The next screen is your Application Request screen. You need to fill this out.
There are 3 key pieces to this form:
Choose the Reason “18 State of Emergency (June Only)”
Choose the Political Party you want a ballot for
Only select the “Statewide Primary – (6/9/2020)
Then click the “Continue” button.
Step 4: Print & Mail your Application
All of these steps lead to this point. Based on the information you filled out above, the system will create a PDF file that you need to print and mail.
Once you print that document out, don’t forget to sign & date in “Step 2”! Then put this in a stamped envelope and mail it to the address seen on the bottom right corner of the form.
For the June 9 Primary – get your request in right away! You have to allow the post office and the Voter Registration office time to process your request and mail the Absentee Ballot back out to you!
