South Carolina elections, 2013
South Carolina election information for 2013 is listed below.
| On the 2013 ballot | ||||
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Exceptions include special elections. Find current election news and links here. | ||||
| U.S. Senate | 
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| U.S. House | 
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| State Executives |
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| State Senate |
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| State House |
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| Ballot measures |
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| Click here for all November 5, 2013 Election Results | ||||
2013 elections
Special elections
There are several special elections scheduled for the state of South Carolina in 2013.
Elections by type
Congressional
U.S. House of Representatives
The 1st Congressional District of South Carolina held a special election for the U.S. House of Representatives on May 7, 2013, which Mark Sanford won. The election was held to fill the vacancy left by the appointment of Representative Tim Scott (R) to the United States Senate. South Carolina law dictates that a primary election to fill a vacancy to the U.S. House must be held on the 11th Tuesday after the vacancy occurs, with the general election being held 18 weeks after the vacancy.[1] The period of time to file to run for office was January 18 to January 28. The primary was held on March 19, with a runoff on April 2 and general election on May 7, 2013.[2]
South Carolina has an open primary system, in which any registered voter can choose which party's primary to vote in, without having to be a member of that party.
- Related: See election results here.
State Senate
State Senate District 42
- Sen. Robert Ford (D) resigned on May 31, 2013 amidst an ethics investigation. A special election has been called for October 1, with a primary on August 13. Since two democrats, Marlon Kimpson and Maurice Washington, missed winning the August 13 primary election outright, a runoff election has been scheduled for August 27. Marlon Kimpson won the runoff election on August 27 and faced Billy Shuman, Alex Thornton and Rodney Travis in the special election on October 1. Kimpson won the special election on October 1. The filing period for candidates ran from June 21 to July 1.[3][4][5][6]
- Related: See election information here.
State House
State House District 93
- Rep. Harry Ott, Jr. (D) resigned on July 20, 2013 to work as the state director for the Farm Service Agency in the federal government. A special election has been called for October 29, with a primary on September 10. Russell L. Ott won the October 29 special election. The filing period for candidates ran from July 12 to July 26.[7][8]
- Related: See election information here.
State House District 17
- Tom Corbin (R) resigned his District 17 seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives on November 12, 2012, after he won election to both the House and the state Senate on November 6. A special election was scheduled for March 12, 2013. Candidates had until December 10, 2012 to file. A Republican primary was held on January 11, 2013. Mike Burns missed winning outright by one vote and went to a runoff with Chris Sullivan, which Burns won. Since no write-in Democrat filed to run by February 21, Burns was declared the winner on March 12.[9][10][11][12]
- Related: See election results here.
Voting in South Carolina
- See also: Voting in South Carolina
Important voting information
- South Carolina uses an open primary system, meaning voters are not required to declare a party preference when registering to vote.
- The deadline for registration is 31 days prior to the election.
- South Carolina has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Voting absentee
- See also: Absentee voting by state
For information about eligibility, deadlines, military and overseas voting and updates to the voting laws in South Carolina, please visit our absentee voting by state page.
Voting early
South Carolina is one of eight states that allow early voting but require an excuse to vote early. Early voting begins as soon as ballots become available and ends at 5 p.m. the day prior to Election Day. To vote early, a voter needs to provide an excuse for why they will be unable to vote at the polls during normal voting hours. Those who qualify for an absentee ballot also qualify to vote early.[13][14]
Elections Performance Index
South Carolina ranked 40th out of the 50 states and District of Columbia in the Pew Charitable Trusts' Elections Performance Index (EPI), based on the 2012 elections. The EPI examined election administration performance and assigned an average percentage score based on 17 indicators of election performance. These indicators were chosen in order to determine both the convenience and integrity of these three phases of an election: registration, voting and counting. South Carolina received an overall score of 58 percent.[15]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Washington Post, "Scott's departure for Senate will trigger third special House election in 2013," December 17, 2012
- ↑ South Carolina Republican Party Website, "1st Congressional Special Election details set," accessed January 3, 2013
- ↑ scnow.com, "Special election set for former Sen. Ford's seat," June 5, 2013
- ↑ scvotes.org, "State Senate District 42 Special Election," accessed July 2, 2013
- ↑ live5news.com, "Marlon Kimpson wins District 42 Senate runoff," August 27, 2013
- ↑ scvotes.org, "Unofficial election results," October 2, 2013
- ↑ scnow.com, "Special election set for former Sen. Ford's seat," June 5, 2013
- ↑ scvotes.org, "State Senate District 42 Special Election," accessed July 2, 2013
- ↑ The Travelers Rest Tribune, "Upstate businessman to run for recently vacated S.C. House District 17 seat," November 14, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ Taylors-Wade Hampton Patch, "Businessman Announces Bid For Vacated S.C. House Seat," November 15, 2012
- ↑ Travelers Rest Tribune, "Burns wins S.C. House District 17 Republican runoff," February 5, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ GreenvilleOnline.com, "Burns to fill House District 17 seat," March 12, 2013
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedabsentee - ↑ Long Distance Voter, "Early Voting Rules," accessed December 16, 2013
- ↑ Pew Charitable Trusts, "Election Performance Index Report," accessed April 23, 2014
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