This impressive turnout contributes to concerns about the direction of the state as the SC early voting record is between 60% and 65%.

South Carolina shattered every prior early-voting benchmark on its way to Tuesday’s primary, with **318,602 ballots cast statewide** during the May 26 through June 5 window, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. The figure is 2.65 times the 2024 primary early-voting record of 120,178 and roughly 3.17 times the 2022 mark of 100,450 — the first cycle of true in-person early voting in the state.

Polls closed at 5 p.m. Friday at sites across South Carolina’s 46 counties. Three days now separate the state from a Republican gubernatorial primary that, on the public polling available, no candidate is positioned to win outright. Voters who pulled a Republican ballot early are part of that math. Voters who pulled a Democratic ballot are part of a separate story driven by redistricting, congressional contests, and statewide down-ballot races.

The headline numbers are clear. What they project — and what they do not — requires more care.

Understanding the SC Early Voting Record

A statewide record, plainly stated

The State Election Commission released the 318,602 total shortly after early voting closed. SCEC Executive Director Conway Belangia, who was confirmed by the South Carolina Senate in April, has described the cycle’s pace in identical terms throughout the window: “phenomenal.” On the morning of Day 1, he told reporters the early traffic was “phenomenal, just phenomenal.” After the close of the first week, he framed the cumulative as evidence of “extraordinary voter engagement.

The historical comparison sharpens the point. Through the first four days of early voting, the cumulative had already surpassed 151,000 ballots — more than the entire 2024 primary’s early-vote total. Through the end of Day 6 on June 2, the running total exceeded 177,000. The second week’s daily counts ramped through Friday, with Thursday alone clearing 32,000 ballots.

The 2022 baseline matters because 2022, like 2026, was a midterm gubernatorial cycle. The 2024 figure included a presidential primary. The 2026 number lands above both — by a wide margin — and South Carolina has not yet voted on Election Day.

Belangia, in remarks earlier in the week, attributed the increased throughput in part to county-level staffing decisions. I believe all the counties probably had to bring in a little bit more help, needless to say, for the increased number,” he told Live 5 News.

What the party-share trend shows — and what it doesn’t

South Carolina does not register voters by party. At the polling place, each voter pulls one party’s ballot and votes only on that party’s primary races. The ballot-pull is the only public signal of partisan participation, and it is the signal that runs through every party-share figure in this cycle’s reporting.

That signal moved across the window. On Day 1, May 26, roughly 81.5 percent of ballots pulled were Democratic and 18.5 percent were Republican, according to figures published by FITSNews. Through June 2, the mid-cycle State Election Commission snapshot showed 132,242 Democratic ballots and 74,809 Republican ballots — a 63.9-to-36.1 split. The Republican share rose through the second week as Republican-side voters caught up.

The State Election Commission has not separately published the final D-R breakdown for the full 318,602. Based on the published snapshots and the second-week ramp, the final balance lands in roughly the 60-to-65 percent Democratic to 35-to-40 percent Republican range. That implies somewhere between 110,000 and 130,000 Republican-pulled early ballots — a directional estimate, not a published number.

The party-share is meaningful for projecting the size of each primary electorate. It is not a candidate projection. A Republican-pulled ballot does not say whether a voter chose Wilson or Evette or Reddy or anyone else.

Horry County’s contribution

Horry County has held a top-five position statewide through the entire window. Day 1 turnout reached 2,476 ballots, ranking the county fifth in the state. Through the first week of early voting, the cumulative hit 8,363 ballots — fourth-highest statewide. By the close of Day 6 on June 2, the running total reached 11,340.

Sandy Martin, the Horry County Director of Registration and Elections, told WMBF News on June 3 that her office expected the final county figure to land “somewhere near 15,000.” The 2022 early-vote benchmark for Horry was 11,600. The 2026 trajectory cleared that line midway through the second week.

Final county-level cumulative figures had not been published as of Saturday morning. The Lowcountry releases give some scale to where Horry sits in the field. Charleston County’s final early-vote total topped 26,800, more than triple its 2024 mark. Berkeley County closed above 14,000. Dorchester County cleared 9,000.

The county operated seven early-voting sites — in Aynor, Conway, Carolina Forest, Loris, Longs/Little River, and two in Myrtle Beach — tied for the most in the state.

What changed in the field in the final 96 hours

Two developments reshaped the Republican gubernatorial field between Chapter 9 of this tracker and Friday’s close of early voting.

State Sen. Josh Kimbrell suspended his campaign on the evening of Wednesday, June 3, and endorsed Attorney General Alan Wilson. Kimbrell said his decision followed “careful consideration of which candidate could advance a conservative agenda.” His name remains on printed ballots. Unlike Jacqueline DuBose — decertified by the South Carolina Republican Party on May 4 over an uncleared filing-fee check, whose votes will not count — Kimbrell suspended his own campaign without being decertified. Votes cast for Kimbrell will count toward the nomination. The active field is now five candidates: Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Wilson, U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace, and businessman Rom Reddy.

The Wilson disambiguation matters because the surname runs through South Carolina politics. Alan Wilson is the state’s attorney general and a gubernatorial candidate. Joe Wilson is the 13-term U.S. representative from South Carolina’s 2nd District and Alan Wilson’s adoptive father — he adopted Alan at age 3 after the death of Alan’s biological father, Army Capt. Michael Alan McCrory, in a military training exercise.

On Friday, June 5, Henry McMaster Jr. publicly opted out of the lieutenant governor slot on Evette’s ticket. Trump had floated McMaster Jr. as a running-mate option in the same Truth Social post that delivered the May 29 endorsement of Evette. On X, McMaster Jr. wrote that he is “Team Evette all the way” and that “Pamela will be a fantastic governor.” Evette’s running mate going into the primary is now unannounced.

Four post-endorsement polls released between June 1 and June 5 show no candidate near the 50-percent-plus-one threshold required to win the nomination outright. Tyson Group, Opinion Diagnostics, and Starboard Communications each show Wilson narrowly ahead within the margin of error. Trafalgar Group’s June 2-4 survey shows Evette at 23.5 percent, down 2.8 points from her June 1 Trafalgar number of 26.3 percent. Reddy, Norman, and Mace cluster behind the leaders. Undecided voters range from 11 to 25 percent across the four surveys.

The runoff math, restated

With every public poll showing the leading candidate well short of 50 percent and the field clustered within or near the margin of error, a June 23 runoff is the most likely outcome under South Carolina primary rules. That is math, not a prediction.

The math also says nothing about which two candidates would advance. Wilson’s narrow leads in three surveys put him in the runoff conversation. Evette’s Trafalgar lead does the same. Reddy, Norman, and Mace are all within range of second place in at least one of the four polls. The Kimbrell endorsement of Wilson may consolidate a small share of voters who had been with Kimbrell, but his Opinion Diagnostics number was 1.6 percent before the suspension — a small consolidation pool.

The record early-vote turnout signals civic engagement and the durability of South Carolina’s early-voting system, which began in 2022. It does not signal a competitive-race winner. The Democratic-side surge reflects Democratic primary contests and a redistricting backlash earlier in the window. The Republican-side ramp reflects a contested gubernatorial primary, the Trump endorsement of Evette on May 29, and a field that polling has yet to settle.

What to watch this week

Polls open across South Carolina at 7 a.m. Tuesday, June 9, and close at 12 hours later at 7 p.m. Voters who did not vote early may still cast a ballot at their assigned Election Day precinct. The State Election Commission is expected to begin posting unofficial results shortly after polls close.

Two names will appear on Republican ballots whose treatment is not identical. DuBose’s votes will not count toward the nomination — the South Carolina Republican Party decertified her candidacy on May 4. Kimbrell’s votes will count. Polling-site signage and verbal notification of DuBose’s status is the responsibility of the SCGOP and county election offices.

If no candidate reaches 50 percent plus one — and on the public polling, none is positioned to — the top two finishers head to a runoff on Tuesday, June 23. The State Election Commission has set the runoff calendar; the candidates have not. South Carolina voters will decide which two of the five remaining names advance.

– South Carolina Public Radio — “South Carolinians set record-breaking participation record as early primary voting ends” (June 5, 2026)

Further Reading

SC early voting record – WACH-TV — “SC Election Commission reports record-breaking early voting” (June 5, 2026)

SC early voting record – WRDW-TV — “Early voting: Record turnout continues for S.C. primaries” (June 5, 2026)

SC early voting record – South Carolina Public Radio — “South Carolina’s first week of early voting surpasses 177,000” (June 3, 2026)

SC early voting record – ABC News 4 — “SC early voting tops 151K in first week, surpassing all of 2024” (May 30, 2026)

SC early voting record – WMBF News — “Horry County voters expected to break previous early primary voting record” (June 3, 2026)

SC early voting record – WMBF News — “Horry County among state leaders as S.C. sets early voting record” (May 27, 2026)

SC early voting record – Fox Carolina — “SC primary early voting opens strong” (May 27, 2026)

SC early voting record – Live 5 News — “South Carolina early voting numbers continue to surge” (June 1, 2026)

SC early voting record – WIS-TV — “Sen. Josh Kimbrell endorses AG Alan Wilson for SC governor after ending campaign” (June 4, 2026)

SC early voting record – SC Daily Gazette — “SC GOP senator ends bid for governor, making it a 5-way race” (June 4, 2026)

SC early voting record – FITSNews — “S.C. Governor’s Race: Josh Kimbrell Endorses Alan Wilson” (June 5, 2026)

SC early voting record – SC Daily Gazette — “Despite Trump’s post, SC governor’s son says he won’t run with Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette” (June 5, 2026)

SC early voting record – FITSNews — “Poll Position: Alan Wilson Leads 2026 S.C. Governor’s Race Entering Homestretch” (June 5, 2026)

SC early voting record – FITSNews — “Early Voting Eruption in South Carolina: Second Week on Tap” (May 31, 2026)

SC early voting record – South Carolina Election Commission — “South Carolina Senate confirms Conway Belangia as State Election Commission Executive Director” (April 2026)

SC early voting record- SC Daily Gazette — “Longshot candidate for SC governor disqualified for not paying filing fee” (May 11, 2026)