Informed Voter Guide

This guide was created to help you make informed choices as you exercise your civic duty to vote in the November 5, 2024 election. Contact Research & Instruction Archivist Kenzie Barnett if you need assistance with any of the information outlined in this guide and/or find that content needs to be updated.

Registration Information

South Carolina Residents

From SCVotes.gov: Students may register to vote where they reside while attending college. This could be at an address in the college community (e.g., a dormitory) or at an address you intend to return to while not in the college community (e.g., family home). For guidance in determining what residence to claim for voter registration purposes, see S.C. Code of Laws Section 7-1-25.

Many college students who live on campus receive their mail at a campus post office box. These students must register at the physical address of their dormitory. The student’s P.O. Box can be provided for mailing and contact purposes.

Register in Person - Must be completed by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, October 4

Register Online - Must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, October 6

Register by Mail, Email, Fax - Must be postmarked by Monday, October 7

Out-of-State Residents

Important: You must follow the state-specific instructions listed for your state. They begin on page 3 of the form and are listed alphabetically by state. After filling out this form, you must sign your name where indicated and send it to your state or local election office for processing. Be sure you mail it in an envelope with the proper amount of postage.

The national form also contains voter registration rules and regulations for each state and territory. For more information about registering to vote, contact your state election office. Read the FAQ's about moving and registering to vote and using the National Mail Voter Registration Form. 

Need help? Ask-A-Librarian!

Platforms

When you registered to vote, you were likely asked to select an affiliation with a political party. The following links will provide you with information about each party's principles, policies, and positions. This will be important as you decide how to vote - candidates' political party affiliations will drive their governance.

Constitution Party

Democratic Party

Green Party

Libertarian Party

Republican Party

American Solidarity Party

See also: Certified Political Parties of South Carolina

Research Process

Step 1: Locate your sample ballot so you know exactly what candidates and issues you will need to research. In South Carolina, you can access this on the SC Votes website. For other states, you will need to visit the state's election website. 

Step 2: Research the candidates.

The best way to do this is by consulting PRIMARY SOURCES - those that provide information spoken or written directly by the candidates (in other words, "from the horse's mouth"). All secondary sources, which include your friends, family members, celebrities, news anchors or reporters (check out the Media Bias Chart), podcasters, social media influencers, etc., will be biased. All humans have personal preferences and often feel strongly that others should believe as they do. To avoid being swayed, you should strive to examine each candidate's platform and positions for yourself so that you can make a decision that best aligns with your personal values.

Take time to locate and review candidates' official campaign websites, social media channels, articles and/or books they have authored, and recordings or transcripts of interviews and/or debates in which they have participated. The following links will help you get started researching the major federal and state candidates on the November ballot: 

President/Vice-President

U.S. House of Representatives, District 3

State Senate, District 3

State House of Representatives, District 6

Many of the local Anderson-area candidates do not have official campaign websites. You will likely need to search for social media pages created by the candidate, articles written by the candidate in the local newspaper, and/or recordings or transcripts of interviews and/or debates in which they have participated. We recommend searching the Anderson Independent Mail newspaper, which you can access through the U.S. Newsstream news source database. You can also search local news channels for recordings of candidate interviews and/or debates:

The following local candidates have campaign websites: