With each passing day, it seems less likely that we’ll emerge completely from our coronavirus quarantine in time for normal primary elections on June 9.
And after this month’s meltdown at the Statehouse, it’s not clear that lawmakers would be willing to return to work in time to reschedule the primaries even if they wanted to. Which they clearly don’t want to do.
If they don’t return to Columbia soon, lawmakers also can’t allow more people to vote absentee, as we have long advocated. And because the limited reasons for voting absentee are written in state law, Gov. Henry McMaster can’t do that either. That’s one reason lawmakers need to give the governor the authority to suspend not just regulations but also laws — perhaps with the approval of a small legislative panel — during a state of emergency. Unfortunately, the Legislature also would have to return to work to do that.
Fortunately, while we wait for legislators to agree to return to work — and then to actually get organized enough to accomplish anything — there is something we can do to make voting safer. Or something some of us can do.
State law allows voters to cast absentee ballots in person or by mail if they’re physically unable to leave their homes, they’re away from their home county for work or vacation, they have to work the entire time the polls are open, or they’re sick or mourning a just-deceased relative. Or if they’re age 65 or older.
That last category is almost certainly why a quarter of S.C. votes are cast absentee.
And it’s why, without any action from the governor or the Legislature, we could make voting in the June primaries a lot safer for everybody. A quarter of S.C. registered voters are at least 65 years old. And in the June 2016 primaries, 42 percent of voters were 65 or older.
Imagine how much easier it would be to practice social distancing at our polling places if 42 percent of votes were cast by mail.
If you’re one of the people who have the special privilege of being able to protect your own health and the health of others by voting absentee, we urge you to do so — for your own health, for the health of everyone else in your community and for the health of our democracy: to encourage others to vote who don’t have the option you have.
It takes several steps, so you should go ahead and start the process as soon as you know which party’s primary you want to vote in: Call or go online at scvotes.org to print a ballot request, fill that out and return it by mail, then the election commission mails you a ballot that you fill out and mail back. (And don’t forget to get a witness signature, which serves ... absolutely no purpose, but is required by state law.)
Under the circumstances, it would be irresponsible for anyone who can vote absentee to show up in person at the polls, where they slow the lines in normal elections and increase dangerous crowding in a coronavirus election.
As long as you don’t vote too early, there’s not a downside to voting absentee. And if the Legislature gets back to work and changes the law to give everyone that option during a state of emergency, then senior citizens will just be a step ahead of everyone else.