All voters can now vote absentee in June primaries, runoffs

South Carolina will hold its primary for federal, state, county, and municipal elections on Tuesday, June 9, 2020. Run-offs are scheduled for June 23, 2020.

This year, every voter in South Carolina is qualified to vote absentee in the June primaries and runoffs, according to the South Carolina Election Commission. Legislation allowing the absentee voting was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Henry McMaster on May 12. The provision expires on July 1, 2020, and does not apply to any elections after that date.

For more information on voting absentee or in-person, visit the election commission website.

As Catholics consider their state primary candidates and the issues before them leading to the general election in November, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops offer guidance through their document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.”

“Faithful Citizenship” is meant to provide a moral framework voters can use to analyze the issues. It contains footnotes and multiple references to Church teaching, papal encyclicals and previous statements by the U.S. bishops.

To supplement the voters’ guide, the USCCB has also issued a series of five videos in four languages that explore various aspects of Catholic social teaching while reflecting the teaching of Pope Francis. Posted at faithfulcitizenship.org and the USCCB’s YouTube channel at bit.ly/31DHDGN, the videos are intended to help Catholics participate in political life guided by their faith as opposed to affiliation with any political party.

Four English-language videos of about two minutes in length examine participation in public life, protecting human life and dignity, promoting the common good and loving others. The fifth video is a six-minute compilation of the highlights of the four shorter pieces.

Videos in Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese are slightly longer.