2017 South Carolina Code of Laws
Title 7 - Elections
CHAPTER 5 - QUALIFICATIONS AND REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS
Section 7-5-440. Failure to notify county board of voter registration and elections of change in address.
(A) A qualified elector who has moved from an address in a precinct to an address in the same precinct shall, notwithstanding failure to notify the county board of voter registration and elections of the change of address prior to the date of an election, be permitted to vote at that precinct's polling place upon oral or written affirmation by the qualified elector of the change of address before an election official at that polling place.
(B) A qualified elector who has moved from an address in one precinct to an address in another precinct within the same county, or has moved to another county within the thirty-day period before an election, and who has failed to notify the county board of voter registration and elections of the change of address before the date of an election, at the option of the elector:
(1) must be permitted to correct the voting records and vote provisional ballots containing only the races for federal, statewide, countywide, and municipalwide offices pursuant to the provisions of Section 7-13-830 at the elector's former polling place, upon oral or written affirmation by the elector of the new address before an election official at that polling place; or
(2) must be permitted to correct the voting records and vote at a central location located at the main office of the county board of voter registration and elections in his new county of residence where a list of eligible voters is maintained, upon written affirmation by the elector of the new address on a standard form provided at the central location.
(C) If the registration records indicate inaccurately that a qualified elector has moved from an address in the precinct, the elector shall be permitted to vote at that polling place, upon oral or written affirmation by the elector before an election official at that polling place that the qualified elector continues to reside at his address.
(D) For voting purposes, in the case of a change of address of a qualified elector to another address within the same county, the county board of voter registration and elections shall correct the voting registration list accordingly, and the elector's name may not be removed from the official list of eligible voters except as provided in Section 7-5-330(F).
(E) At least one member of the county board of voter registration and elections, the clerk, or deputy registrar must be present in the board's office at all hours during which the polls are open on every election day for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this section.
HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 23-100; 1952 Code Section 23-100; 1950 (46) 2059; 1967 (55) 657; 1968 (55) 2316; 1984 Act No. 510, Section 8, eff June 28, 1984; 1996 Act No. 466, Section 6, eff August 21, 1996; 2000 Act No. 392, Section 2, eff August 1, 2000.
Code Commissioner's Note
Pursuant to the directive in 2014 Act No. 196, Section 8, at the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to county election commissions or commissioners or county boards of voter registration were changed to the "Board of Voter Registration and Elections" and board members as appropriate.
Effect of Amendment
The 1984 amendment substantially reworded this section.
The 1996 amendment revised this section.
The 2000 amendment, in the first undesignated paragraph of subsection (B), was amended by adding "or has moved to another with the thirty-day period before an election,", in paragraph (1), added ", and municipalwide" and in paragraph (2), added "in his new county of residence".
