The South Carolina Election Commission has announced that the state’s voter registration deadline has been extended to October 14 due to the widespread impact of Hurricane Helene. The initial deadlines for in-person, online, and mail-in voter registration were October 4, October 6, and October 7 respectively. However, all registration methods have now been extended to October 14 for voters in all counties.
This announcement comes after Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble granted an extension following a lawsuit filed by the South Carolina Democratic Party (SCDP) on October 3. The SCDP requested the court to extend the deadlines for all forms of voter registration due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, which made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on September 26.
According to the SCDP’s lawsuit, many government offices responsible for voter registration were closed due to storm damage and numerous residents were still without power and internet access. SCDP Chair Christale Spain expressed satisfaction with the extension in order to protect everyone’s right to vote.
The South Carolina Republican Party also confirmed the deadline extension through its social media account. Voter registration offices in Edgefield, Laurens, and McCormick remained closed due to heavy flooding caused by Hurricane Helene.
As a result of this storm, over 1.4 million residents experienced power outages and as of October 3rd, more than 376,700 homes were still without electricity according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division. Additionally, there have been at least 46 storm-related deaths reported by the South Carolina Public Safety Department on October 4th.
The SCDP highlighted that their lawsuit was similar to one filed in 2018 after Hurricane Florence devastated both South Carolina and North Carolina resulting in an extension being granted at that time as well.
Three civil rights groups—the Legal Defense Fund ACLU of South Carolina and League of Women Voters of South Carolina—also sent a letter calling for an extension along with urging officials to inform voters that they could still cast their ballots even if their photo identification was lost or damaged due to the storm.
Governor Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on September25th before Hurricane Helene made landfall ensuring necessary resources would be available for response efforts.