South Carolina § 7-13-770 - Unauthorized persons within guard rails; voters requiring assistance; minor children of qualified elector accompanying parent into booth.

§ 7-13-770. Unauthorized persons within guard rails; voters requiring assistance; minor children of qualified elector accompanying parent into booth.

(A) A person other than a voter preparing his ballot is not allowed within the guard rail, except as provided in this section. A voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write shall make the fact known to the managers. The chairman of the managers shall appoint one of the managers and a person of the voter's choice, other than the voter's employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of the voter's union to assist the voter in preparing his ballot. After the voter's ballot has been prepared, the person chosen by the voter to assist him immediately shall leave the vicinity of the guard rail. Instead of the above assistance, a person may have a member of his family or, in the case of a blind voter, a person of his choosing render him assistance in voting without the presence of a manager. The term "family" means spouse, father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, aunt, uncle, niece, or nephew.

(B) Minor children of a qualified elector may accompany the qualified elector in the voting booth while he is casting his ballot. The qualified elector shall attest that the persons accompanying him are the minor children of the elector.

HISTORY: 1962 Code SECTION 23-400.56; 1952 Code SECTION 23-350; 1950 (46) 2059; 1966 (54) 2340; 1970 (56) 1913; 1984 Act No. 445, eff June 15, 1984; 2008 Act No; 205, SECTION 1, eff May 14, 2008.

Editor's Note

NOTE: The provisions of Section 7-13-770 have not been pre-cleared by the U.S. Department of Justice and cannot be put into effect. The 1982 Amendment to the Voting Rights Act would apply and must be used in lieu of this section.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was further amended in 1982, effective January 1, 1984, to provide that:

"Any voter who requires assistance to vote by reason of blindness, disability, or inability to read or write may be given assistance by a person of the voter's choice other than the voter's employer or agent of that employer or officer or agent of that voter's union."