The process of counting votes on Election Day in Aiken County won't change much in 2020, even though the voting methods have shifted a bit.
"We kind of have our same process," said Michael Bond, the registration and elections deputy director in Aiken County. "It’s just going to be a little more extensive than it normally has been for opening absentee by mail. It’ll probably take a little longer; but as long as the process goes like it generally does, I think we should be fine."
One change that is being made to help with the increased amount of mail-in absentee ballots is that the Aiken County Registration and Elections Office will be allowed to start scanning these ballots starting at 9 a.m. on Nov. 3, Election Day.
The results will not be tabulated until 7 p.m. that day when the polls close.
"There's no tallier or anything until after the polls close," Bond said. "It's basically the same thing as voters coming in now, and they scan their ballot in and it's just scanned in; but nothing is counted until after the polls close."
Bond also said the elections office will have some extra personnel on hand to assist in counting the ballots.
Residents voting on Election Day are allowed to stand in line for as long as they have to in order to vote as long as they are in line by 7 p.m. Bond said that a poll worker will mark the hand of the last person in line at that time, and they get to go through the line until it is finished.
In terms of having the results on Election night, Bond said, "We plan on doing it like our normal process, and we plan on having them all that night. We can’t say for definite that we’ll be able to finish. This is the biggest mail-in we’ve ever had, so we’ll see how it goes."
The deadline to apply for a mail-in absentee ballot was Saturday, so residents who haven't voted yet will need to go to the Aiken County Registration and Elections Office, one of the satellite absentee voting locations, or wait until Election Day.
The Elections Office, located on the first floor of the Aiken County Government Center, will be open for in-person absentee voting from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through Nov. 2. It also will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31.
The following satellite locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the following dates and locations:
• H. Odell Weeks Activities Center, 1700 Whiskey Road, from Oct. 26-30.
• Wagener Volunteer Fire Department, 299 Park Ave. N.E., Wagener, from Oct. 26-29.
• Ridge Spring-Monetta High School, 1071 Trojan Road, Monetta, from Oct. 26-28.
In order to vote, residents will be required to produce one of the following forms of identification: valid S.C. driver's license, S.C. DMV ID card, S.C. concealed weapons permit, S.C. voter registration card with photo, federal military ID or a U.S. passport.
There are currently 121,558 registered voters in Aiken County. There have been 22,181 total absentee ballots submitted in the county as of noon on Oct. 22.
To view an individualized sample ballot, visit scvotes.gov and click "Get My Sample Ballot."
For more information, call the Aiken County Registration and Elections Office at 803-642-2028 or visit scvotes.gov.
Absentee deadlines in other states
While Aiken County residents know the absentee rules and deadlines in South Carolina, they may not know the rules in the other 49 states. Many of them have changed their protocols because of the coronavirus pandemic. Here is a list of what each state is doing, according to vote.org.
• Alabama: Absentee ballots must be postmarked at least one day before Election Day and received by noon on Election Day.
• Alaska: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received 10 days after Election Day.
• Arizona: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• Arkansas: Absentee ballots delivered in person must be received the day before Election Day. If the ballot is sent by mail, it must be received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
• California: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received no later than 17 days after Election Day.
• Colorado: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• Connecticut: Absentee ballots must be received on Election Day.
• Delaware: Absentee ballots must be received on Election Day.
• District of Columbia: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received no later than 10 days after Election Day.
• Florida: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• Georgia: Absentee ballots must be received by the time the polls close on Election Day.
• Hawaii: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• Idaho: Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Illinois: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by 14 days after Election Day.
• Indiana: Absentee ballots must be received by noon on Election Day.
• Iowa: Absentee ballots must be postmarked one day before Election Day and received by noon six days after Election Day.
• Kansas: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received three days after Election Day.
• Kentucky: Absentee ballots must be received by 6 p.m. on Election Day.
• Louisiana: Absentee ballots must be received by 4:30 p.m. one day before Election Day for most voters. For hospitalized voters, the ballots are due by 4:30 p.m. on Election Day.
• Maine: Absentee ballots must be received by Election Day.
• Maryland: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by 10 a.m. 10 days after Election Day.
• Massachusetts: Absentee ballots must be received by Election Day.
• Michigan: Absentee ballots must be received by the time the polls close on Election Day.
• Minnesota: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received up to seven days after Election Day. If the voter is turning the ballot in in person, it is due by 3 p.m. on Election Day.
• Mississippi: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received within five business days of Election Day. If the voter is turning the ballot in in person, it must be received three days before Election Day.
• Missouri: Absentee ballots must be received on Election Day by 7 p.m. when the polls close.
• Montana: Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Nebraska: Absentee ballots must be received on Election Day.
• Nevada: Absentee ballots must be postmarked on or before Election Day.
• New Hampshire: Absentee ballots must be received by 5 p.m. on Election Day.
• New Jersey: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received 7 days after Election Day by 8 p.m.
• New Mexico: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• New York: Absentee ballots must be postmarked on Election Day and received seven days after Election Day. The ballots can also be turned in by hand on Election Day.
• North Carolina: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received nine days after Election Day by 5 p.m. If the ballot is turned in in person, it must be received by Election Day.
• North Dakota: Absentee ballots must be postmarked one day before Election Day.
• Ohio: Absentee ballots must be postmarked no later than one day before Election Day and received by 10 days after Election Day. The ballot can also be delivered in person on Election Day.
• Oklahoma: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• Oregon: Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Pennsylvania: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received three days after Election Day. The ballot can also be delivered in person by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Rhode Island: Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• South Carolina: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• South Dakota: Absentee ballots must be received by Election Day.
• Tennessee: Absentee ballots must be received by Election Day.
• Texas: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by the day after Election Day.
• Utah: Absentee ballots must be postmarked one day before Election Day and received within two weeks of Election Day. The ballot can also be delivered in person by Election Day.
• Vermont: Absentee ballots must be received by Election Day.
• Virginia: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by noon three days after Election Day.
• Washington: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received five days after Election Day.
• West Virginia: Absentee ballots must be postmarked by Election Day and received by six days after Election Day. Ballots with no postmark will be counted if received by one day after Election Day.
• Wisconsin: Absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
• Wyoming: Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
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