This native South Carolinian is excited because on Tuesday we’re going to find out who will be the next governor of South Carolina, or, much more likely, which two candidates will be in the runoff for governor. Of course, as you PJ Media readers know, in this deeply red state, the odds of our selecting a Democrat governor are low. (No Democrat has won the governor’s seat since 1998.) Tuesday is the day to watch.
Who might advance? Per the latest Real Clear Politics average of five polls, the latest taken on June 7, Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette is up by 2.8%. The rest of the race is anyone’s game:
- Lt. Governor Pamela Evette 20.6%
- S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson 17.8%
- Businessman Rom Reddy 14.6%
- U.S. Rep Ralph Norman, 14.0%
- U.S. Rep Nancy Mace 12.0%
State Sen. Josh Kimbrell suspended his campaign on June 3.
Evette is leading due to her name recognition and President Donald Trump’s endorsement, as PJ Media reported.
Yet undecideds are still in the mix – per that RCP average above, it could be as high as 20 percent.
Why we will know
Yes, we will know soon after the polls close. We will know because South Carolina is not California. Because one, we can count votes. And two, even though we aren’t Florida by any means, I’m confident that there won’t be any California-style shenanigans.
Please Note: Of course I could be wrong. This is the difference between me, other PJ Media writers, and the mainstream media. We’re going to tell you when it’s opinion and when we’re reporting facts.
We could have unprecedented votes in South Carolina, but we have a few rules that separate this state from others in our country.
We closed the early voting on Friday, June 5. That means that there are fewer votes coming in at the last minute.
South Carolina does not allow the type of mail-in balloting that other states do. If you want to vote by mail, or as we call it in South Carolina, use an absentee ballot, there are some specific conditions to meet.
You have to be either over 65, or disabled (or attending a disabled person), or in the military, or be absent from your residence during early voting AND Election Day, or be so ill or incapacitated that you cannot get to a voting station, or be working a full shift during both early and regular voting.
One more important rule is what separates the South Carolina system from other states: You, the voter, have to request that ballot. There is no mailing of ballots willy-nilly to all and sundry, to any address with a potential voter. Not only must a South Carolina voter request the ballot, but he also has to do it 11 days before the election. For this June 9 primary, that means the last request had to be in by May 29. Plus, you must either physically call, send a regular snail mail request, or show up in person to get that absentee ballot.
Are there potential problems with cheating? Naturally, there are as in any election. This state allows absentee ballots to be received by the county voter registration office by 7 p.m. on the day of the election. Those also have to be counted that night.
But will the cheating be as extensive as in some other states? No. That’s why I’m confident we’re going to know within a few hours or perhaps one day, max, who will advance to the runoff, the most likely outcome. Even with such a hotly contested race as this one, I think we’ll get results by Wednesday morning.
Wouldn’t it be nice if every state could adopt such a system of having absentee ballots requested by an actual person, instead of just distributing them like manna from heaven, falling to be gathered by any unscrupulous operative? Why is it that certain states manage to get votes counted quickly, while others take weeks?
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