Getty People line up to cast their in-person absentee ballots at the Berkeley County Library on October 30, 2020 in Hanahan, South Carolina.
South Carolina voters have cast their ballots in the 2020 presidential election and Decision Desk HQ has projected President Donald Trump as the winner over former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump easily won the state in 2016 and had been expected to carry it and its 9 electoral votes again.
Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins, Libertarian candidate Jo Jorgensen and Alliance Party candidate Roque De La Fuente were also on the ballot in South Carolina. Polls were open from 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Follow the 2020 presidential election results courtesy of Heavy’s partners at Decision Desk HQ below:
See the Most Recent Presidential Election Results From South Carolina & the Map of Votes Across the State Here
The South Carolina presidential election results can be viewed in the widget below, which updates in real-time. Hovering over each county will show localized results.
In the final days of the election, South Carolinians stood in long lines to cast their votes early. The Post and Courier reported on October 31 that some voters had to wait up to 4 hours to cast their ballots due to large crowds. Many satellite polling locations were closed for the weekend, forcing voters to wait at county election headquarters. The State reported that early turnout in South Carolina more than doubled compared to the 2016 presidential election.
In addition to the presidential race, South Carolina voters are also selecting seven representatives for Congress. The incumbents included 5 Republicans and 2 Democrats.
— In the 1st congressional district, Rep. Joe Cunningham faced a tight race for re-election against Republican challenger Nancy Mace.
— In the 2nd congressional district, Rep. Joe Wilson was outspent by Democratic challenger Adair Ford Boroughs, who hoped to deny Wilson a 10th term.
— In the 3rd congressional district, Rep. Jeff Duncan faced a rematch against Democrat Hosea Cleveland.
— The 4th district pitted Rep. William Timmons against Democrat Kim Nelson.
— Voters in the 5th district chose between Rep. Ralph Norman Jr. and Democrat Moe Brown.
— In the 6th district, Rep. Jim Clyburn was looking for his 15th term in Congress against Republican John McCollum.
— And in the 7th district, Rep. Tom Rice faced Democrat Melissa Watson.
The results for the House races can be viewed below by clicking on South Carolina on the map or by selecting South Carolina from the dropdown menu. Hovering over the district will show the results for each race.
The Senate race between incumbent Lindsey Graham and challenger Jaime Harrison attracted national attention in the weeks leading up to the election. The Senate election results can be viewed in the widget below. Hovering over each county will show localized results.
Trump Held a Consistent Lead Over Biden Ahead of the Election, Polls Showed
GettyJoe Biden and Donald Trump.
Trump won nearly 55 percent of the vote in South Carolina in 2016. The commander-in-chief was expected to carry the state again in 2020, based on polls. A poll released by East Carolina University on October 26 showed Trump leading Biden by 7% among likely voters, with 4% undecided. A CBS News poll from late September had Trump ahead by 10 percentage points.
A surge in early voting has been the topic dominating headlines in the Palmetto State. As of October 28, more than one million people had cast absentee ballots either by mail or in-person. The South Carolina Election Commission expected 1.3 million people to vote early, which would account for as much as half of the state’s total vote tally. According to WPDE-TV, non-white voters, who account for 39 percent of South Carolina’s population, had cast about 43 percent of the absentee ballots as of October 23.
Voters in South Carolina were incentivized to return mail-in ballots as early as possible. South Carolina does not accept absentee ballots after the close of polls on Election Day, even if the ballot was postmarked earlier.
South Carolina Has Reliably Voted Republican Since the 1960s, With the Exception of the 1976 Election
Getty A voter casts his in-person absentee ballot at the Charleston County Public Library on October 30, 2020, in Charleston, South Carolina.
South Carolina has been a reliable red state since the 1960s. According to 270toWin, South Carolina voters have selected the Republican candidate for president in every election all but once over the past 50 years. The outlier was in 1976 when the state swung Democrat in support of Georgia native Jimmy Carter.
In 2016, Trump garnered nearly 55% of the vote in South Carolina over Hillary Clinton’s 40.7%. In 2008 and 2012, President Barack Obama lost the Palmetto State with, respectively, 44.9% and 44.1% of the vote. President George W. Bush won South Carolina by an even greater margin than Trump; Bush received 56.8% of the vote in 2000 and 58.1% in 2004.
Follow the 2020 Presidential Race Results From Across the Country & the Updated Electoral College Map Below
Heavy has partnered with Decision Desk HQ for live election results from across the country. Those results can be seen below:
Decision Desk HQ is also tracking the race to 270 electoral college votes, the number needed for either Trump or Biden to secure the presidency. Those results are available below:
READ NEXT: Live Ohio Election Results & Map: Follow the 2020 Presidential Race