Myrtle Beach mayor runoff is Thanksgiving week. Won’t be in town? Here’s how to vote

The Myrtle Beach mayoral runoff election is on Nov. 21, the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. For those who will not be in town, absentee ballots need to be sent in as soon as possible in order for the vote to count.

As the top two mayoral candidates in the Nov. 7 election, incumbent Mayor John Rhodes got about 30 percent of the vote and challenger Brenda Bethune took about 40 percent. Since no candidate won more than 50 percent, voters will go to the polls in the runoff election to decide who will be sworn in as the next mayor of Myrtle Beach.

Sandy Martin, with Horry County Voters Registration and Elections, said that the deadline for absentee ballots is on election day. However, in order to receive a ballot, an application must be mailed and filled out to receive an absentee ballot. Then the ballot must be mailed in.

Voters who are in the area can physically vote absentee in person at the Voters Registration and Elections office, located at 1515 Fourth Ave. in Conway, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Martin said that people who are not in town can get the application online and fax it to Voters Registration and Elections. The last day for an application to be mailed is Nov. 17, but Martin does not think that a voter will not have enough time to mail in the ballot if they wait until then.

“If they need to vote absentee, they need to do it now,” Martin said.

Those who voted absentee Tuesday have an option to have an absentee ballot mailed automatically if there was a runoff.

Martin said that the election should be certified Thursday, but that the office is closed Friday for Veterans Day.

Further questions can be directed to the office at 843-915-5440.

The election on Nov. 7 left Bethune and incumbent Rhodes to battle for two more weeks. Bethune and Rhodes faced former Myrtle Beach Mayor Mark McBride, Ed Carey and C.D. Rozsa.

This story was originally published November 9, 2017 at 10:19 AM with the headline "Myrtle Beach mayor runoff is Thanksgiving week. Won’t be in town? Here’s how to vote."