Two election bills passed by the General Assembly and signed into law in 2026 will bring important changes to municipal election administration, filing procedures and special election scheduling.
H3556, Act 213 — Election dates, partisan elections, election commissions and swearing-in dates
H3556 standardizes municipal election dates across South Carolina.
Beginning January 1, 2027, municipalities must hold general elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in either April or November of odd-numbered years. Municipalities already conducting elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in either April or November of even-numbered years may continue to do so. Municipalities conducting elections in November of odd-numbered years as of January 1, 2027, must retain that election date.
Municipalities that do not adopt a permissible election date before April 1, 2027, will default to holding elections on the November date in odd-numbered years.
The new law also prohibits partisan municipal elections in municipalities with populations of 39,000 or more based on the 2020 Census.
Municipal election commissions will now be limited to municipalities with populations of at least 10,000. Existing commissions in smaller municipalities will be abolished effective January 1, 2027, and county election officials will assume responsibility for conducting and certifying those elections.
Municipalities whose elections are administered by county election boards must reimburse counties for the “reasonable costs” of conducting and certifying elections, following a reimbursement schedule to be established by the South Carolina Election Commission. Affected municipalities may incur new or increased election administration costs in this process. Some municipalities may already reimburse counties for election services, while others could experience additional costs under the new framework.
Previously, state law did not establish a uniform date for municipal terms to begin, aside from a requirement that elected officials must wait at least 48 hours after polls close before qualifying for office. This left municipalities to address swearing-in procedures through local ordinance.
Under the amended law, terms may begin between 48 hours and 80 days after the election, with a default start date at the beginning of the first council meeting in the month following the election. The law allows certified election winners to serve while election appeals are pending.
H3557, Act 137 – Filing periods, limitations on special election scheduling
H3557 makes several procedural changes to election administration. Both partisan and nonpartisan candidate filing periods have been shortened to seven days.
It also eliminates certain special elections when a regularly scheduled election for the same office will take place within 100 days.
Perhaps the most consequential procedural change is found in SC Code Section 7-13-190(D), limiting elections to fill vacancies to only five permissible election dates:
- The fourth Tuesday in January
- The first Tuesday after the first Monday in April
- The second Tuesday in June in even-numbered years only, and for only primaries for special elections
- The fourth Tuesday in August
- The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, for only those elections other than primaries for special elections
In cases where the date would be a legal holiday, the permissible date would move to the next Tuesday.
Municipal officials should review these changes carefully and consult legal counsel as needed to ensure compliance before the January 2027 implementation date.