Trump flag being flown at Myrtle Beach area polling place. Is it legal under SC law?
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Editor’s note: This story was updated on Oct. 10 at 9:25 a.m. to reflect the correct distance of political signs from polling locations.
Are polling places allowed to place signs or flags demonstrating support for political issues?
According to Horry County’s Voter Registration and Elections director Sandy Martin, the answer is no, but only on election day.
This question comes after a Trump 2024 flag was spotted flying outside the Conference Center at Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach earlier this week.
A message left with the center’s director on Wednesday morning was not immediately returned.
In less than a month, on Nov. 5, the Conference Center will be one of the many polling locations in Horry County for people to go and cast their votes.
Martin said she has not received calls about any other future polling locations having political signs or flags as of Wednesday morning. She said state law makes it so it’s only illegal on election day for polling locations to fly political flags or have signs endorsing candidates on their property.
“It is unlawful on an election day within two hundred feet of any entrance used by the voters to enter the polling place for a person to distribute any type of campaign literature or place any political posters,” Section A of S.C. Code of Laws on unlawful distribution of campaign literature states. “The poll manager shall use every reasonable means to keep the area within two hundred feet of any such entrance clear of political literature and displays, and the county and municipal law enforcement officers, upon request of a poll manager, shall remove or cause to be removed any material within two hundred feet of any such entrance distributed or displayed in violation of this section.”
In 2022, that law was amended to change the distance from 200 feet to 500 feet, according to state statues.
Due to the destruction of Hurricane Helene, voter registration was extended in South Carolina. For more information about how to early voting, click here.
This story was originally published October 9, 2024 at 12:43 PM.
