State Summary

South Carolina does not have a statutory post-election tabulation audit.

The State Election Commission (SEC) indicated that it oversaw hand-count audits in 2020 of the state’s new voting system, which uses ballot marking devices for all polling-place voters. However, only limited information about these audits has been made public. The SEC has also mentioned plans in 2022 to utilize a third-party system to retabulate ballots “to verify voting system results” as well as “to establish some level of risk-limiting audits.” For more information on the 2020 audits and the SEC’s plans for 2022 see: Letter from SEC to House Legislative Oversight Committee, dated October 29, 2021.

Voting Systems Used

South Carolina uses ballot marking devices and optical scanners for all polling place voters statewide. For the most up to date information please visit Verified Voting’s Verifier.

For an explanation on the types of voting equipment used, click here.

Audit Comprehensiveness

No statutory guidance is provided on audits.

Transparency

Only limited information about audit procedures in 2020 and beyond is presently available.

Audit Counting Method

No statutory guidance provided.

Type Of Audit Units

No statutory guidance provided.

Contests & Issues Audited

No statutory guidance provided.

Addressing Discrepancies

No statutory guidance provided.

For recount laws, see Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota website.

Timeline

No statutory guidance provided.

Binding On Official Outcomes

No statutory guidance provided.

Oversight & Conduct

No statutory guidance provided.

Ballot Protection

When the canvassing of the votes is completed, the chairman of the managers, or one of them to be designated in writing by the managers, shall deliver to the board of voter registration and elections the poll list, the boxes containing the ballots and a written return of the result of the election in the voting precinct. For more information see, SC Code § 7-13-1150.

Additional Targeted Samples

No statutory guidance provided.

Resources

While limited information is available about current audits, results from electronic audits of South Carolina’s previous voting system are available at: https://www.scvotes.gov/election-audits-south-carolina.