Court extends voter registration deadline after SC Democrats’ request. Here’s the new date

Eligible people have one more week to register to vote, following a decision from a Richland County judge.

Judge Daniel Coble agreed to a request from the South Carolina Democratic Party to extend the voter registration deadline by one week to Oct. 14, due to the effects of Hurricane Helene.

“We did not want to ask for a deadline that would unduly burden the state resources, or otherwise,” said Richard Hricik, the attorney for the state Democratic Party. “We worked together, and at seven days, was able to ensure that the South Carolina Election Commission was able to properly update any records for anybody who did want to register to vote in the next seven days.”

Friday, Oct. 4, was the deadline to register to vote in person. Sunday was the online voter registration deadline. Mailed applications had to be postmarked by Monday.

The storm hit the Upstate — one of South Carolina’s most conservative regions — the hardest. The storm has caused 41 deaths and about 300,000 customers were still without electricity as of Friday.

“Our goal is simple: to ensure that every citizen in South Carolina has the opportunity to register and exercise their right to vote, regardless of their politics, in the face of challenges caused by Hurricane Helene,” said South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain. ”Protecting the right to vote is a fundamental part of our democracy.”

The S.C. Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick in a statement said he did not agree with extending voter registration in counties that “that weren’t affected by the storm,” even though the party recognized the impact of the storm had on the state’s residents.

“We call on our elected officials to make sure that there is adequate time to validate and process registration requests and guarantee the accuracy of our voter rolls before any ballots are cast,” McKissick said. “The S.C. GOP will be doing everything in its power to register as many Republicans as possible before the new deadline — and make sure that they get out to the polls on Election Day.”

The South Carolina Election Commission did not have the authority to extend the voter registration deadline on its own. The commission also did not object or support the request from the state Democratic Party, but said the time frame in order to carry out a change was shrinking.

The process includes updating by when voter registration rolls need to be completed.

“I think if we have from the 14th to the 21st, which is when early voting starts, it’s my understanding that it’s tight, but we can do it,” said Liz Crum, an attorney for the state election commission.

In 2018, the election commission extended the voter registration deadline by 10 days because of Hurricane Florence after receiving a court order stemming from a lawsuit filed by Attorney General Alan Wilson.