Bamberg County voters head to polls for Republican runoff election

Bamberg County voters returned to the polls Tuesday for the Republican statewide primary runoff, with voting open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. across the county. The runoff came two weeks after the June 9 primary, and with fewer people usually voting in runoff elections, each ballot cast in Bamberg County carried extra weight in deciding which Republican candidates stayed alive statewide.

The county’s official 2026 election notice said any necessary runoffs would be held Tuesday, June 23, 2026, and reminded voters to verify their assigned polling place before heading out. In Bamberg County, that meant checking a list that included Brooker Center in Denmark, the J. Carl Kearse Agricultural Building in Bamberg, Ehrhardt Town Hall, Olar Town Hall, Govan Fire Department, Little Swamp Community Center and Hunters Chapel Fire Department. The county’s precinct map also included sites such as Colston Fire Department, Old Train Depot and Bamberg City Civic Center, reflecting how spread out voting access is across rural and small-town precincts.

State election officials set the June 23 runoff as part of a statewide calendar that covered all 46 counties, just as the June 9 primary had done. The South Carolina Election Commission urged voters to check sample ballots and bring photo ID, reminders that mattered in a runoff where a narrow margin can decide which names move forward and which campaign ends.

The state’s election pages also point voters and officials to an election database and results portal, along with turnout records that run from 2008 through 2025. That record gives Bamberg County a way to compare June 2026 participation with earlier primaries and runoffs, including how turnout shifted across places like Denmark, Bamberg, Ehrhardt, Olar, Govan, Branchville and Smoaks.

For Bamberg County, the immediate consequence of sitting out a runoff was simple: one less local voice in a countywide decision that was being made on a single Tuesday, precinct by precinct, under a strict 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. deadline.