More than 1 million South Carolina voters have cast absentee ballots, the South Carolina Election Commission announced, doubling the previous record for absentee voting set during the presidential election in 2016.

In a normal year, state law requires voters to have a reason, or an excuse, to cast ballots absentee. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the South Carolina Legislature provided for no-excuse absentee voting for the November election, allowing any South Carolina voter to request an absentee ballot.