The statewide primary is set for next Tuesday, but a supreme court ruling complicated matters.
Dozens of people with political aspirations aren't eligible to be on the ballot because they didn't file a necessary piece of paperwork.
Compared to a general election which is talked about for more than a year in advance, primaries typically attract a much smaller crowd of voters. Experts say they're also likely to be those who pay close attention to what's happening in politics.
"It's still June, it's not October or November. So people aren't paying as much attention. The only people that are really paying attention right now are your partisans. People that are really concerned with who the candidate will be for the Democratic and Republican parties," explains Dr. Frederick Wood, a political science professor with Coastal Carolina University.
Plus with less people running for office that means, "20 percent less candidates means 20 percent less tv ads, radio ads, flyers, bumper stickers. That will allow people to know, 'hey there's an election going on. I should probably figure out who I'm going to vote for," says Dr. Wood.
Next Tuesday's primaries may not be easy for the novice to navigate. Because of the state supreme court decision, some names will still appear even though you can't vote for them. Dr. Wood suggests this strategy, "I would go into the polling place with a ranked order list. This is my first place person, this is my second place person, this is my third place person and then when I voted I would follow that list according to who is eligible at that moment."
How you vote Tuesday will have an impact in the November election. South Carolina is an open primary state, so you have to choose a side.
"Each voter can go and choose whether or not they want to take a ballot for the Republican primary or the Democratic primaries. The unfortunate thing is that when you pick, say if you want to vote for the seventh congressional district the Republican primary you're gonna get the ballot for all Republican primaries that you're eligible to vote for and if you'd like to vote in say a mayoral race where two democrats are running you can't do that because you've already picked a republican ballot," says Wood.
This places independent and issue voters in a unique position, so weigh your options before election day.
