Thursday is last day to vote early ahead of Tuesday’s primary runoffs, see reminders here

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — If you plan on voting early for Tuesday’s primary runoffs, Thursday June 18th is your last day to do so.

With early voting not available on federal holidays, Friday’s Juneteenth limits early voting for Tuesday’s primary runoffs to Wednesday and Thursday.

Conway Belangia with the SC Election Commission says early voting centers will be open on Thursday, June 18th from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Of course the big day is next Tuesday, so if you don’t have the opportunity to get out during early voting, your opportunities on Tuesday are from 7 a.m. To 7 p.m,” says Belangia.

There are five notable primary runoff elections taking place this coming Tuesday.

• Democratic runoff in U.S. House District 1
• Democratic runoff in U.S. House District 2
• Republican runoff for SC Agriculture Commissioner
• Republican runoff for SC Attorney General
• Republican runoff for SC Governor

“And we encourage anybody to participate. Those who participated in one party’s primary, may not participate in another party’s runoff. So, with that, you may not cross over and vote in the other party. But if you didn’t vote in the first primary, your options are still wide open and you can show up on early voting or on primary day and cast your ballot,” says Belangia.

Early voting before the first primary set records — with over 300,000 ballots cast in that two week period. That’s more than double the 2024 total.

“But it ran for two weeks, and so this one being very compact, either it’s gonna be real busy or real busy on (primary) Election Day,” Belangia says, adding, “So I don’t expect it to be quicker, we hope it will be a little bit more efficient. We had a couple of counties where one precinct delayed finalizing results and we hope that those one issues are not an issue in the runoff and we can get numbers in a little bit quicker but not a lot quicker.”

As always, be sure to take a valid form of photo I.D. with you — and know who you’re going to vote for, before you get to the polls!

“Voters need to study their ballot. Make sure they know who’s on it. So they can make those choices once they get in. It’s a very short ballot. But it’s important to know the candidates and what they stand for, especially in a runoff when your choices are whittled down to two. In these statewide races, it’s really important to know how they stand before you cast a ballot for them,” says Belangia.

To see your ballot mock ballot, visit SCVOTES.gov here.

To find your early voting center, visit SCVOTES.gov here.