South Carolina § 7-15-385 - Marking ballots; return; storage; penalty for violations.

§ 7-15-385. Marking ballots; return; storage; penalty for violations.

(A) Upon receipt of the ballot or ballots, the absentee ballot applicant must mark each ballot on which he wishes to vote and place each ballot in the single envelope marked "Ballot Herein" which in turn must be placed in the return-addressed envelope. The applicant must return the return-addressed envelope only by:

(1) mail to the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections;

(2) personal delivery to an election official during office hours at the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections or to an election official during office hours at an early voting center; or

(3) authorizing a member of the applicant's immediate family, as defined in Section 7-15-310(8), or an authorized representative, to return the return-addressed envelope for him to an election official during office hours at the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections or to an election official during office hours at an early voting center.

(B) An applicant who authorizes a member of his immediate family or an authorized representative to return the return-addressed envelope for him pursuant to this section must complete an authorization form prescribed by the State Election Commission that must be turned in by the immediate family member or authorized representative at the time the return-addressed envelope is returned. The applicant must sign the form, or in the event the applicant cannot write because of a physical handicap or illiteracy, then the applicant must make his mark and have the mark witnessed by someone designated by the applicant.

(C) The authorization form prescribed by the State Election Commission must include a designated space in which an election official must record the specific form of government-issued photo identification presented by the immediate family member or authorized representative who is authorized by the applicant to deliver the return-addressed envelope. The authorization form must be preserved as part of the record of the election, and the county board of voter registration and elections must note the time and date of receipt of the authorization form, the name of the immediate family member or authorized representative, his relationship to the applicant, and the immediate family member's or authorized representative's form of government-issued photo identification in the record book required by Section 7-15-330.

(D)(1) When an applicant, or an applicant's authorized immediate family member or authorized representative, presents himself to deliver a return-addressed envelope pursuant to this section, he must produce a valid and current:

(a) driver's license issued by a state within the United States;

(b) another form of identification containing a photograph issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles or its equivalent by a state within the United States;

(c) passport;

(d) military identification containing a photograph issued by the federal government; or

(e) South Carolina voter registration card containing a photograph of the voter.

(2) An election official must verify that the name and photograph on the identification is the applicant, or the applicant's authorized immediate family member or authorized representative, as applicable.

(E) An election official must not accept a return-addressed envelope until the provisions of this section have been met.

(F) The county board of voter registration and elections must securely store return-addressed envelopes in locked boxes within the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections as prescribed by the State Election Commission.

(G) It is unlawful for a person to return more than five return-addressed envelopes in an election, in addition to his own. A person who violates this subsection, upon conviction, must be punished as provided in Section 7-25-190.

HISTORY: 1982 Act No. 280, SECTION 1, eff February 24, 1982; 1987 Act No. 59 SECTION 1, eff April 28, 1987; 1996 Act No. 416, SECTION 2, eff June 4, 1996; 2022 Act No. 150 (S.108), SECTION 7, eff May 13, 2022.

Effect of Amendment

2022 Act No. 150, SECTION 7, rewrote the section.