Can you vote with a felony in South Carolina?

How the right comes back

Automatically

The disqualification ends when the sentence has been served, "including probation and parole time", or sooner with a pardon (S.C. Code § 7-5-120(B)(3)). The State Election Commission says that after serving the sentence, the person must submit a new voter registration application to the county voter registration office, before the 30-day registration deadline for the election they want to vote in. The applicant swears under penalty of perjury that the entire sentence is complete, and the county board may ask for proof that it was completed.^1,3

Fines, fees and restitution

Not confirmed

S.C. Code § 7-5-120(B)(3) and the State Election Commission tie eligibility to service of the sentence, which the Commission says "includes completion of any prison/jail time, probation and parole." Neither mentions fines, fees or restitution or says whether unpaid amounts keep a sentence from being complete.

Registering again

Yes

Once the right is back, South Carolina requires a new voter registration before voting.³

Misdemeanors and jail

Some non-felony convictions count. Anyone "serving a term of imprisonment resulting from a conviction of a crime" is disqualified while confined, whatever the crime, and a conviction for an offense against the election laws disqualifies until the sentence, including probation and parole, is served, even when it is not a felony (S.C. Code § 7-5-120(B)(2) and (3)). The state constitution also says people "confined in any penal institution under the judgment of a court shall not be entitled to vote" (S.C. Const. art. II, § 7).^1,2

The confinement rule applies to a term of imprisonment "resulting from a conviction". The State Election Commission's FAQ lists people "confined to a jail or pretrial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial" among the voters who may vote absentee by mail.^1,4

Convictions from another state or federal court

The State Election Commission says federal and state courts send it lists of people convicted of felonies or election-law offenses, and those people are removed from the list of active voters. The statute speaks of being "convicted of a felony" without limiting it to South Carolina courts; neither source separately addresses convictions from other states.³

The law

• S.C. Code § 7-5-120(B)
• S.C. Const. art. II, § 7

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