SC election officials ink deal with feds solving overseas ballot problem in GOP Senate primary

COLUMBIA — S.C. Election Commission officials reached a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice on how to handle the incompatibility of state and federal election laws covering next month’s special Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

The agreement clears up how the state will handle mailing ballots to military servicemembers and other overseas citizens ahead of the Aug. 11 primary when voters select a Republican nominee to replace Lindsey Graham on the November ballot.

Under federal law, those ballots are supposed to go out 45 days before the election. But the timeline for holding the special primary, which is set by state law, made that impossible since only 31 days separate Graham’s sudden death on July 11 and the new primary day.

That issue prompted talks between the Justice Department and the Election Commission, which agreed their solution best resolves the matter without the burden and expense of a lawsuit, according to the July 20 agreement.

In exchange for the Justice Department forgoing litigation over the 45-day deadline, the state agreed to a condensed timeline for notifying the overseas voters and sending them their ballots.

The commission will now notify those voters about the primary and potential Aug. 25 runoff by July 24. Counties will then mail out the ballots by Aug. 1, which is four days after candidate filing closes.

State officials also have to certify to the Justice Department they followed that timeline.

“We’ve gone through a lot of different issues with the DOJ and they know our plight, they understand our deadlines,” Conway Belangia, executive director of the state Election Commission, said during a July 20 meeting.

The commission’s board unanimously voted to give Belangia the authority to sign the agreement during that meeting.

Overseas voters are able to return their ballots electronically, and can also rank candidates when they vote in the initial primary to serve as their vote if the race goes to a runoff.

Ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on the day of the primary or runoff, which is when polls close.

About 1,000 overseas voters requested ballots during the June primaries from both parties. Only 48 were returned via traditional mail.

Filing for the special primary opens at noon on July 21.

Several people have already said they intend to run, including U.S. Reps. Ralph Norman and Russell Fry, upstate businessman Mark Lynch and U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of Lindsey Graham whom Gov. Henry McMaster appointed to finish his current term earlier this month.

Voters who participated in the Democratic primary in June are not eligible to vote in the special GOP primary.