The US Supreme Court issued a ruling which reinstated the requirement that absentee voters obtain a witness signature on their mail-in envelopes. Justice Brett Kavanaugh, appointed to the court by the current president and supported by the current South Carolina senators, wrote the explanation for the court. US District Judge Childs prohibited, in September, the Election Commission from enforcing the state’s witness signature requirement, saying it posed a danger to voters who would risk exposure to coronavirus and/or COVID-19. Voters who applied for, obtained, and returned absentee ballots without a signature will NOT have their ballots counted unless the ballots arrived within 2 days of the Supreme Court’s decision on Monday (10/5/20). In addition, there is no way they can fix their faulty ballot (for example, by getting a witness signature or by voting in person). What that means is that anyone who voted absentee without a witness signature, whose ballot was mailed but does not arrive by Wednesday 10/7 effectively has not voted and cannot vote in this presidential/senatorial election.
This is why the Supreme Court is so important.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Postal Service sent letters of warning to 46 states and the District of Columbia, indicating that it could not guarantee all mail-in ballots cast for the November election would arrive in time to be counted. Forty states received a “heightened warning” that USPS could not meet state-mandated deadlines. Online voter registration closed in South Carolina on October 4, while mail registrations needed to be postmarked by Oct. 5. In-person registration ended on Oct. 2.