Jasper County board certifies six provisional ballots, flags mail-routing issues ahead of Nov. 3 election

The Jasper County Voter Registration and Elections board on Tuesday approved six provisional ballots and voted to certify results for the primary runoff, and members raised concerns that U.S. Postal Service routing may be delaying mailed absentee ballots.

The clerk told the board, “We have 6, provisional ballots, and these ballots were issued to these holders because they, were mailed absentee ballots. However, they did not use their absentee ballot, so we bought it down with a provisional ballot,” and said staff checked the database and had not received absentee ballots for those voters. The board moved to accept the six provisional ballots and to certify the primary runoff; the motion passed by voice vote with no opposition.

The action completes a short administrative step to add the six provisional ballots into the unofficial report. The clerk said staff will scan the ballots in the office and add them to the results, and that the board’s packet includes an unofficial summary of vote totals for several races as read aloud during the meeting.

Board members spent substantial time discussing how mail routing and local post-office procedures affect absentee ballots. One board member asked whether the state had considered changing mail handling to reduce missed ballots, noting recent mail problems. The clerk responded that routing varies by ZIP code: “the Ridgeland, South Carolina 29936, it does not go to Charleston and come back to Richland… Bluffton definitely goes to Charleston,” and said the office attaches a post-office card to identify ballots and has asked post offices to hold official ballots when possible.

Members discussed possible local workarounds, including hand-delivering batches to certain post offices closer to polling places in advance of elections. The clerk cautioned that the county cannot control the postal service’s routing but agreed to double-check specific town routings and follow up with local postmasters.

The clerk also reported procedural items: one provisional envelope lacked a poll-manager signature at the top, though the clerk noted the manager’s name appears elsewhere on the envelope; the board received a hand-count audit report conducted the prior morning and the clerk said it “passed that with no issues.”

Other business included a planned voter-registration drive in July in partnership with Kingdom Touch (a back-to-school event) and continued recruitment of poll workers. A board member noted a possible alternate site — a church social hall near the post office — and the board agreed to schedule a site visit to confirm accessibility and suitability.

On a personnel matter, the clerk said the board will prepare a letter to the governor per statute to notify the delegation office about filling a vacant third board position; interested applicants should submit an application to the delegation office for consideration. The clerk reminded members that the next general election is Nov. 3 and the board confirmed it will not meet next month, reconvening in August.

The meeting included routine procedural steps — agenda approval and swearing-in recitations — but the board’s discussion of mail routing and ballot handling signaled practical concerns staff said they will investigate before the November election.