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Want to vote in either NC or SC this year? Here’s how to register

By WSOCTV.com News Staff

SC Primary (Gerald Herbert/AP)

By WSOCTV.com News Staff

North Carolina

Make sure you’re eligible.

To register to vote, you must:

  • Be a citizen of the United States
  • Live in the county where you are registering
  • Be at least 18 years old, or will be by the date of the general election (16- and 17-year-olds may preregister to vote)
  • Not be serving a sentence for a felony conviction, including probation, parole, or post-release supervision

Fill out, submit voter registration application.

  • Using N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles services:
  1. Selecting the option to register to vote while applying for a vehicle license or ID
  2. Submitting the voter registration application online through the DMV
WSOC SPECIAL SECTION: Vote 2020

Check for your voter registration card

After you register to vote, the county board of elections will mail you a voter registration card. This mailing is non-forwardable and serves to verify your address. If the U.S. Postal Service returns a card as undeliverable, a second mailing will be sent. If the second mailing is returned as undeliverable, the voter registration will be denied.

Those who submit their form before the voter registration deadline for the next election should receive their voter card within two weeks. Applicants should contact their county board of elections if they do not receive their voter card. If an application arrives after the deadline, officials said the application will not be processed until after the election.

Time to vote

  • View a list of upcoming elections and registration deadlines on the North Carolina Board of Elections website.
  • Locate your polling place on the Voter Lookup Tool or the Polling Place Search.
  • On Election Day, polls across North Carolina are open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Voters in line at 7:30 p.m. will be able to cast a ballot. If you can’t vote during those times, you can either vote early or send in an absentee ballot.
  • Voters are not required to show their ID for elections in 2020.
  • In 2020, every voting site in North Carolina offers curbside voting for voters who:
    • Are unable to enter the polling place due to age or physical or mental disability.
    • Have a medical condition that puts them at increased risk of getting COVID-19.
    • Should not wear a mask due to a medical or behavioral condition or disability.
    • Are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms.
  • A voter who, because of a physical disability, illiteracy or blindness, is unable to enter the voting booth or mark a ballot without help, may receive help from other assistants. If you need help with your ballot, you can ask a near relative or legal guardian to come with you to the polls and fill the ballot in with your choices.
  • To protect voters and election workers, masks and hand sanitizer will be available to all voters. Social distancing will be enforced at voting sites.

Everything You Need to Know Before You Vote Everything You Need to Know Before You Vote

South Carolina

Make sure you’re eligible

To register to vote, you must:

  • Be a citizen of the United States
  • Live in the county and precinct where you are registering
  • Be at least eighteen years old on or before the next election
  • Have never been convicted of a felony or offense against the election laws or if previously convicted, have served the entire sentence, including probation or parole, or have received a pardon for the conviction.
  • Not be confined in any public prison resulting from a conviction of a crime
  • Not be under a court order declaring you mentally incompetent

Fill out, submit voter registration application

ALSO READ: Election 2020: When does early voting begin; which states do it?

Check for your voter registration card

After you register to vote, the county board of elections will mail you a voter registration card.

Time to vote

  • View a list of upcoming elections and registration deadlines on the South Carolina Election Commision calendar.
  • Locate your polling place by logging in and finding your precinct or download a list of polling places. If you can’t vote during those times, you can send in an absentee ballot. There is no early voting in South Carolina.
  • On Election Day, polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
  • When voting in person, you will be asked to show one of the following Photo IDs at your polling place:
    • SC Driver’s License
    • SC Department of Motor Vehicles ID Card
    • SC Voter Registration Card with Photo
    • Federal Military ID
    • US Passport
  • Any voter who, because of physical handicap or age (65 or older), cannot enter the polling place in which he is registered to vote, or is unable to stand in line to vote, may vote outside that polling place in the closest available parking area using the vehicle in which they were driven or has been driven to the polls.
  • Assistance in marking a ballot is allowed only if the voter is blind, illiterate or physically handicapped. A voter entitled to receive assistance may choose anyone to assist except their employer, agent of their employer, or an officer or agent of their union.
  • Voters who have moved but failed to update their address on election day and vote, have the option to Failsafe vote. Failsafe voting is available to voters in the following situations:
    • Voter moves from one address to another within the same precinct.
    • Voter moves from one precinct to another within the same county.
    • Voter moves from one South Carolina county to another within 30 days of an election.
    • Voter moves from one state to another after the deadline to register to vote in a Presidential election in the new state of residence.

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