COLUMBIA, S.C. — When South Carolina polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, the long ballot will start filling in quickly. Voters are choosing a U.S. Senator, a governor, members of the U.S. House and the full slate of statewide offices, from attorney general and secretary of state to treasurer, comptroller general, agriculture commissioner and superintendent of education, along with state House and Senate seats.
If the last general election is a guide, numbers will appear fast. In 2024, the first returns posted at 7:19 p.m., 19 minutes after polls closed. Half the statewide vote was in by 8:50 p.m., and 90% was counted by 11:14 p.m.
What shows up first depends on the county. Roughly half of the counties report all or nearly all of their mail ballots in the first update, and about half of those include Election Day votes at the same time. Nearly every county posts at least some early in-person votes right away.
That early vote matters more this year. In the 2022 midterm, roughly 1.7 million people voted in the U.S. Senate race, and a bit more than a third of them, about 36%, did so early or by absentee ballot. This fall, more than 830,000 South Carolinians had voted before the final weekend Election Commission, so the first update could reflect a large share of the eventual total.
Close races will not end on election night. State law calls for an automatic recount whenever the winning margin is 1% or less of the votes cast for that office.
Anyone in line at 7 p.m. Can still vote, and absentee ballots are due by 7 p.m. At the county election office or an early voting site. They cannot be turned in at a polling place. Official results will be posted on scVOTES.gov as counties report.
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