Pawleys Island, S.C. — If you want to vote in the General Election on Nov. 6 and aren’t registered, you have until Saturday to sign up.
The county’s Voter Registration and Elections office will be open Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon for last-minute registrations.
If you’re not going to be in town on Election Day you can request an absentee ballot and start voting in person on Monday.
Donna Mahn, the county’s director of voter registration and elections, said nearly 1,400 applications have been received so far. That’s a little ahead of the pace from the last presidential election.
To receive an absentee ballot, voters must submit an application and then the county will mail out a ballot. Ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on election night.
Residents can also bring the ballot back to the voter registration office starting Monday.
Mahn said four years ago 5,500 people voted at the office in the 21 days leading up the election.
In addition to its regular hours, the office will be open from 9 a.m. to noon on the last two Saturdays in October for people to drop off absentee ballots.
If residents have changed addresses since the last time they voted, Mahn recommends that people check their voter registration information in advance to avoid going to the wrong polling place on election day.
Mahn also reminds people that the wearing of clothing or other paraphernalia, such as buttons, stickers or hats, in support of a specific candidate or party is prohibited while voting. People will be asked to remove paraphernalia, or be sent to a bathroom to turn clothing inside out.
The ban on paraphernalia extends to the exterior of polling places, which means people with campaign bumper stickers on their cars are not allowed to park within 200 feet of the entrance.
“It’s not fair,” Mahn said. “That’s campaigning.”
The ban on clothing and paraphernalia also covers poll workers, who were reminded of that by Mahn at a recent training session.
The Georgetown County voter registration office is at 303 North Hazard St., between Duke and Exchange streets, in Georgetown. The office is open Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 843-545-3339 for information.
To check your registration information, download a registration form, request an absentee ballot, or view a sample ballot for November’s election, go to www.georgetowncountysc.org/voterreg.
By Chris Sokoloski
csokoloski@gtowntimes.com