Fliers in Beaufort County ballots say you don’t need a witness signature. You do
When John Watson received his ballot in the mail Thursday, a flier was attached.
“At the time your ballot was mailed, a court has ruled you do not need a witness for your ballot to count,” it said.
The Sun City-Hilton Head resident was confused.
You do need a witness signature for your ballot to count.
The fliers were inserted in most mail-in Beaufort County ballot envelopes before this week’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling that reinstated the witness signature requirement for South Carolina ballots, said Ron Clifford, chairman of the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Beaufort County.
The Supreme Court’s ruling came after a back-and-forth court battle to determine whether voters needed a witness signature on their ballot return envelopes.
Monday’s decision overturned a ruling made last month by U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs of Columbia that prohibited the S.C. Election Commission from requiring a witness signature.
The fliers attached to Beaufort County ballots go on to say, “it is possible this court ruling could change.”
“At the time, we thought [the Supreme Court was] going to do away with the witness signature,” Clifford said. “It very quickly reversed and they decided we did need one.”
As for the mixed messages the flier sends to Beaufort County residents, Clifford said he understands why people are confused.
But, he said, “if we hadn’t put that in there, and the court ruled [against the signatures], people would’ve jumped through hoops to get a witness signature when they didn’t need to. We can’t win for losing, it seems like.”
Although ballots already received by county election officials without a witness signature were accepted through Wednesday, ballots without them now will not be counted.
A witness can include a family member, neighbor, friend, caregiver or mail person.
There are no residency, age, or registered voter status requirements to be a witness.
This story was originally published October 9, 2020 at 11:02 AM.
