Voter Registration & Elections

Election News

All voters are eligible to vote absentee in the June primary and runoff elections. For information pertaining to Voter Registration and Elections, visit South Carolina State webpage.

New Photo ID Requirements

Beginning January 1, 2013, you will be asked to show one of the following Photo IDs at your polling place:

  • South Carolina Driver's License
  • ID Card issued by the South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles
  • South Carolina Voter Registration Card with Photo
  • Federal Military ID
  • United States Passport

Find more information concerning the new photo ID requirements.

Voting Options

Governor McMaster on Friday, May 13, 2022, signed into law legislation passed by the General Assembly that establishes early voting in South Carolina. To help prepare for the upcoming elections the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Barnwell County wants voters to know all their options to vote:

Polling Place on Election Day

  • Open from 7 am to 7 pm
  • Check your polling place before leaving to vote.
  • Check your Sample Ballot before leaving to vote.
  • Bring your Photo ID (or voter registration card if you do not have a photo ID)

Early Voting

In-person absentee voting has now been replaced with a two-week early voting period. Any voter can visit an early-voting location in Barnwell and vote like they would at their polling place on Election Day. Each county must have at least one early voting center.

Bring your Photo ID (or voter registration card if you do not have a photo ID).

Absentee Voting

Absentee voting allows qualified voters to cast a ballot by mail prior to Election Day. In-Person Absentee Voting is no longer authorized by law.

Qualified voters include:

  • Voters with disabilities.
  • Voters sixty-five years of age or older.
  • Members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them.
  • Voters are admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election.
  • Voters who, for one of the following reasons, are unable to vote in person on any day of the early-voting period or on Election Day.
  • Employment obligations.
  • Attending sick or physically disabled persons.
  • Confined to jail or pretrial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial.
  • Absent from their county for any reason.

To Vote Absentee

  • Request an absentee application by phone, mail, or in person.
  • Complete, sign, and return the application by mail or in person.
  • New applications will be issued soon based on the new requirements.
  • The old application will continue to be accepted through May 31.
  • After May 31, only new applications meeting current requirements will be accepted.
  • The deadline to return a new application is June 3.
  • You will receive your absentee ballot in the mail.
  • Vote and return your ballot to the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Barnwell County office by mail or in-person no later than 7 pm on Election Day.
  • Be sure to sign the voter's oath and have the return envelope witnessed. There are no changes to the witness requirement in effect for the June Primaries. Witness requirement changes in the law go into effect in July.
  • Photo ID will be required to return your ballot in person.
  • Ballots returned by mail should be mailed no later than one week prior to election day to help ensure timely delivery.