EARLY & ABSENTEE VOTING UPDATE
We have VITALLY IMPORTANT updates about early and absentee voting leading up to the primary on June 14th. As you can read about in this press release from Charleston County, Governor McMaster signed a law that replaces in-person absentee voting with early voting, meaning that any registered voter can vote in-person at the Charleston County Board of Elections & Voter Registration without an excuse between Tuesday, May 31st, and Friday, June 10th. The early voting occurs between 8:30 AM and 5 PM from Monday through Friday during this period. This is a change from the previous law that required an excuse to vote early in person. We HIGHLY encourage everyone to vote early to avoid long lines on Election Day.
Regarding absentee voting by mail, reasons have been limited to the following:
- Voters with disabilities.
- Voters sixty-five years of age or older.
- Members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with them.
- Voters admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on the day of an election or within a four-day period before the election.
- Voters who, for one of the following reasons, are unable to vote in person on any day of the early-voting period or on Election Day.
- Employment obligations.
- Attending sick or physically disabled persons.
- Confined to a jail or pretrial facility pending disposition of arrest or trial.
- Absent from their county for any reason.
Additionally, the absentee applications must be returned by eleven days before the election. As a voter, you can only request up to five additional ballots now and must provide further identification on absentee ballots.
LEAKED SCOTUS DRAFT
We would like to say THANK YOU to the hundreds of Democrats who joined CCDP at the rally last weekend, organized by Women’s March and Planned Parenthood. You can see some of our amazing CCDP leadership at the event in the picture at the top of this newsletter. Since the bombshell leak a few weeks ago it has become clear that SCOTUS is likely to overturn Roe v. Wadethis summer. This is, essentially, an attack on settled law, legislation that has been the law of the land for a half century.
The importance of this decision cannot be overstated. Should Roe be officially overturned, abortion bans in nearly half the states in America will become law. States where laws made no exceptions for rape, incest or even endangering the life of the mother. States that have given rapists parental rights.
Should Roe be overturned, abortion will no longer be legal in America, only in certain states. And several of the anti-abortion laws have built in clauses to prohibit pregnant women from traveling out of state. Think about that. Women who live in Republican held states will have less rights as a citizen than women who live in Democratic states. Recently in Texas, a woman narrowly escaped a murder charge because she ended a pregnancy. Is this the world we want to live in?
Armed with the knowledge of the battle we are about to face, we beg of you, please, to continue calling and writing your legislators. ALL of your legislators (but especially those at the federal level). Get loud and demand they protect women’s rights in this country. And remember, they will not stop with abortion. If settled law is up for grabs, every hard fought right we have earned can be taken away. Voting rights, LGBT rights, interracial marriage, birth control, and even fertility treatments… All up for grabs if we don’t stop this madness in its tracks.
FIND LEGISLATORS’ CONTACT INFO
SIGN PLEDGE TO PROTECT CHARLESTON WOMEN’S RIGHTS
MEMBERS OF THE NEWSLETTER TEAM NEEDED
The saying goes that “all good things must come to an end,” and my tenure leading this newsletter is no exception. In June, I will be moving away from Charleston, which means that CCDP is need of new people to help run the newsletter! If you are interested, please reply to this email or send an email to zach@charlestondemocrats.com! I will show the new team the ropes, so do not worry about being thrown in blindly. I look forward to the future leadership of this newsletter!
HELP SUPPORT CCDP
Supporters like you allow us to keep the CCDP office open, train and support candidates and fund events in the Lowcountry. Please consider donating so that we can continue these efforts. With the 2022 election just months away, it is more important than ever to make sure we have the resources we need to succeed!
DONATE TO SUPPORT CCDP AND ELECT DEMOCRATS
Upcoming Events
| THU MAY19 8:30AM | Coffee with Democrats Join fellow Democrats for a cup of coffee and great conversation. We will gather in-person at Wildflour Pastry from 8:30-10 AM. No specific topics. Come for the whole time or just a little while. Wildflour Pastry |
| THU MAY19 6:30PM | CCDP May Monthly Meeting Join us for our monthly meeting! Please RSVP to receive the Zoom information. We will hear from both Catherine Fleming Bruce and Angela Geter, who are running for the Democratic US Senate nomination.Virtual Meeting RSVP Here> |
| TUE MAY24 7 PM | East Cooper Democrats May Meeting Join the East Cooper Democrats on May 24th for our May meeting! Fellowship starts at 6 pm and the meeting begins at 7 pm. We have invited all of the candidates on our East Cooper ballots to join us to speak before the group. This is an excellent opportunity to hear from them before the June primaries! Snowden Community CenterRSVP Here> |
| TUE MAY24 6:30PM | Sea Island Democrats May Meeting Join the Sea Island Democrats for our May meeting at Tattooed Moose on Johns Island! We will be hosting Joe Cunningham, candidate for Governor, and other Democratic candidates that are running to represent the Sea Islands. Our May meeting will serve as our annual meeting where we will be voting on our steering committee for the next year. Be sure to come learn how you can get involved as we work to register voters and engage with those living on the Sea Islands! Tattooed MooseRSVP Here> |
| WED MAY25 6:30PM | St. Paul’s Parish Democrats Monthly MeetingJoin the St. Paul’s Parish Democrats Club for their monthly meeting every fourth Wednesday at 6:30 PM. This month it will be on Wednesday, May 25th, at St. John Baptist Church. St. John Baptist Church |
2022 Candidate Information
2022 CHARLESTON COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATESState Level Offices:
Governor:
Carlton Boyd
Joe Cunningham (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Mia McLeod (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Calvin CJ Mack McMillan
William H Cowboy Williams (Website; Donations)
U.S. Senate:
Catherine Fleming Bruce (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Angela Geter
Krystle Matthews (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Secretary of State: Peggy Butler (Website; Donations)(NOMINEE)
State Superintendent of Education:
Dr. Gary Burgess (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Lisa Ellis (Website; Instagram; Twitter; Donations)
Jerry Govan
United States Congress:
SC-1: Dr. Annie Andrews (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)(NOMINEE)
SC-6:
Michael Addison (Website; Facebook; Donations)
Gregg Marcel Dixon (Website; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Majority Whip James “Jim” E. Clyburn (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
South Carolina State House
15: Representative JA Moore (NOMINEE)
80: Donna Brown Newton (Website; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)(NOMINEE)
109: Representative Deon Tedder (NOMINEE)
110: Ellis Roberts (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)(NOMINEE)
111: Representative Wendell Gilliard (NOMINEE)
112:
Dave Artushin (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Stephen Hilton (Website; Twitter; Donations)
113: Representative Marvin Pendarvis (NOMINEE)
114: Michelle Brandt (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)(NOMINEE)
115: Representative Spencer Wetmore (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)(NOMINEE)
116: Representative Chardale Murray (NOMINEE)
119: Representative Leon Stavrinakis (NOMINEE)
Charleston County Council:
5: Councilman Teddie Pryor (NOMINEE)
8:
Councilwoman Anna Johnson (Website; Facebook; Donations)
Ronald L. Ladson (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
Millicent TraeyeMiddleton (Website; Instagram; Facebook; Twitter; Donations)
9: Dylan Tullberg (NOMINEE)
Charleston County Probate Judge:
Tamara Cunningham Curry (Website; Donations)
Stephanie Ganaway-Pasley
Charleston County Register of Deeds:
Karen Hollings
Michael Miller
Give Back
Blessing Box Donations Needed!
Please consider donating to our CCDP Blessing Box. You can #StockTheBox at any time, o
r drop off items to the office during office hours or by appointment. Our community members appreciate and depend on our kindness!
A few things to remember when donating Blessing Box items:
- DO donate non-perishable items that will hold up in the weather
- example: canned vegetables and meats/fish, sauces in jars, boxes of rice or pasta
- protip: donate items that don’t require milk/butter/oil to prepare, get cans with pop-tops that don’t require can openers
- DO donate small personal care items that will fit in the blessing box
- example toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant,
- DO NOT donate any open or expired items.
Lowcountry Period Project Supplies Needed!
Did you know that our volunteers build period packs in support of the Homeless Period Project? The project provides pre-made kits for homeless shelters and nurse’s offices at Title IX schools in the Lowcountry. These items are a luxury to homeless women and girls and many are forced to choose between hygiene and food. Please consider donating the following items so we can continue to support this amazing project!
-individually-wrapped feminine pads
-individually-wrapped tampons
-individually-wrapped wipes
-individually-wrapped panty liners
Thanks again for your generosity!
Our office has limited public hours due to COVID, but if you are dropping off donations, you can email wecare@charlestondemocrats.com to arrange a drop off time.
Contribute
BUY SOME MERCHANDISE TO SUPPORT CCDP!
Please support CCDP (and help elect Democrats) by buying one of our t-shirts, water bottles, Koozies, bags, and pint glasses!
BUY SOME COOL STUFF & SUPPORT CCDP
