LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — South Carolina's Republican Primary Day gets underway on Saturday morning as the state's voters decide who they want representing the party in the upcoming United States presidential election.
Donald Trump and Nikki Haley were campaigning Friday ahead of Saturday's South Carolina Republican presidential primary, in which the Associated Press reports the former president is the overwhelming favorite, despite Haley having been twice elected South Carolina governor.
According to the AP, the winner of South Carolina's Republican primary has won the nomination all but one time since 1980. The news agency said this year's contest is an unusual one-on-one matchup between a former president and a generally popular home-state figure.
Here's a look at where voters need to go, what they need to bring and how they can best prepare themselves before casting their ballot in Saturday's primary.
Where to vote in the SC Primary
There's a chance voters will have a different temporary site to cast their ballot. Voters can check that on SCVotes.gov by clicking "Find My Polling Place" and entering the requester information. It will show if the polling location has changed.
John Catalano, the public information officer for the election commission, said state law requires local elections offices to consolidate polling locations for this race.
"For presidential primaries though and for municipal elections, so these are two, these two types of elections, state law says that the election needs to be conducted in the most cost-efficient way possible, and that includes consolidating polling places," Catalano said.
When to vote in the SC Primary
Thursday, Feb. 22, was the last chance to vote early in the Republican Presidential Primary. The next and final opportunity will be on Saturday. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you are in line at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote.
The Democratic South Carolina primary was held on Feb. 3. President Joe Biden won with 96% of the vote.
How to vote in the SC Primary
According to the South Carolina State Election Commission, the only thing you need to bring to vote is a picture identification, which includes the following:
- a valid driver's license
- ID card issued by the SC Department of Motor Vehicles
- voter registration card with photo
- federal Military ID
- U.S. Passport
Who can vote in the SC Primary?
Currently, there is no law in South Carolina requiring you to be registered as a member of the Democratic or Republican parties in order to vote in either primary election. However, you can only vote in one -- not both -- of the primaries.
Who is on the South Carolina ballot?
Although some campaigns have been suspended, names may still appear on the Republican primary ballot
- Ryan L Binkley, pastor and businessman
- Chris Christie (campaign suspended)
- Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida (campaign suspended)
- Nikki Haley, former SC governor and US Ambassador to the United Nations
- Vivek Ramaswamy (campaign suspended)
- David Stuckenberg, veteran and entrepreneur
- Donald J Trump, former president
What questions are on the SC primary ballot?
There are three advisory questions. These yes or no questions will help shape the Republican Party's statewide agenda. The questions are non-binding. They're not changing a law or tied to a referendum.
The questions are:
Should South Carolina law be changed to give people the right to register to vote with the political party of their choice?
Should South Carolina adopt reforms to increase the independence and accountability of our judiciary by improving transparency and reducing conflicts of interest in the process of reviewing judicial qualifications and electing judges?
Should it be an immediate legislative priority to protect South Carolina's competitiveness and small businesses by changing state law so that a person's responsibility for financial damages in a lawsuit is based on that person's actual share of responsibility?