The extension was announced by the election commission after a judge granted an extension in response to a lawsuit filed by the South Carolina Democratic Party.
The South Carolina Election Commission said on Friday that the state’s voter registration deadline has been extended to Oct. 14 due to the widespread impact of Hurricane Helene.
The initial deadlines for in-person, online, and mail-in voter registration were Oct. 4, Oct. 6, and Oct. 7, respectively. All registration methods have now been extended to Oct. 14 for voters in all counties.
The announcement followed a recent decision by Circuit Court Judge Daniel Coble to grant an extension following a lawsuit filed by the South Carolina Democratic Party (SCDP) on Oct. 3.
The party had asked the court to extend the deadlines for all forms of voter registration, citing the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, which made landfall on Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane.
In its suit, the SCDP said the storm had shuttered numerous government offices, including those in charge of voter registration, and many residents were still without power and internet.
“We are pleased the voter registration deadline has been extended. This isn’t a partisan issue. It’s an issue of the public good and ensuring the right to vote is protected for everyone,” SCDP Chair Christale Spain said in a statement on Oct. 4.
The South Carolina Republican Party also announced the deadline extension on its social media account.
The state election commission said on Oct. 4 that voter registration offices in Edgefield, Laurens, and McCormick have remained closed due to the storm that caused heavy flooding across South Carolina and other states.
More than 1.4 million residents experienced power outages as a result of the storm. As of Oct. 3, over 376,700 homes were still without electricity, according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division.
At least 46 storm-related deaths have been reported, the South Carolina Public Safety Department said on Oct. 4. The state has deployed more than 1,000 troops to assist with the recovery efforts and cleanup operations.
The SCDP said that its lawsuit mirrored a similar extension request filed in 2018, when Hurricane Florence devastated South Carolina and North Carolina, which also resulted in an extension.
“The state party had little choice but to go to court to ask for an extension because neither the Attorney General nor Governor McMaster, who was involved in the effort in 2018 to extend the deadline, did so this year,” SCDP executive director Jay Parmley stated.
Three civil rights groups—the Legal Defense Fund, ACLU of South Carolina, and League of Women Voters of South Carolina—also sent a letter to the governor, attorney general, and state election commission on Oct. 3 to call for an extension.
The groups also called on the state to issue a statement informing voters that they could still cast their ballots in the event that their photo identification was lost or damaged due to the storm.
Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency on Sept. 25, before Hurricane Helene made landfall, to ensure that the state had the necessary resources in place to respond to the storm’s potential impacts.