Ten candidates for the Republican Party's U.S. Senate nomination have sought to sway voters away from each other on an expedited election timeline following Lindsey Graham's death. In three days of early voting, 61,775 South Carolinians cast a ballot in the race to replace Graham as the GOP nominee.
The election will be held Tuesday and is open for most registered voters to participate in. People who voted in the June 9 Democratic primary election cannot participate, but anyone who voted in the Republican primary — or did not participate at all — can cast a ballot in the upcoming race.
Polls open will from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The state's most populous counties largely saw the highest number of early ballots cast; Horry County had the highest number of ballots cast in early voting with 6,780 recorded votes.
Greenville County, Lexington County, Spartanburg County and Beaufort County round out the top five counties in number of ballots cast.
Lexington County Director of Voter Registration Lenice Shoemaker said her staff was prepared for the influx of voters, but the shortened timeline to meet election requirements after Graham's death increased the workload and job difficulty.
"This is not their first rodeo, which is good, but it's still quite a scramble for all of the counties to make sure that we're prepared and ready to go in such a short timeline," she said. "It's very difficult."
Graham died July 11, and just one month later, voters will have the opportunity to select a new GOP Senate nominee. He had won the initial primary with about 57% of the vote.
If no candidate Aug. 11 receives a majority of the vote, the two candidates with the highest share of the vote will head to a runoff election held Aug. 25.
The candidates on the ballot are:
- Walterboro Attorney Duke Buckner
- Danny Ford II, who had previously run for commissioner of agriculture in June
- U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, who represents South Carolina's 7th Congressional District
- U.S. Senator Darline Graham
- Businessman Mark Lynch, who received the second highest share of the vote in the June 9 Senate primary GOP election
- Former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride
- U.S. Representative Ralph Norman, who represents South Carolina's 5th Congressional District
- Retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Maj. Glenda Gail Parker
- Former U.S. Rep. and Gov. Mark Sanford
- Lexington resident Samuel Sam Shepherd, a bio-chemical and medical engineer
South Carolina Public Radio and ETV will provide live coverage of the election from 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesday with public affairs reporter Gavin Jackson.
