Early voting begins Wednesday for Charleston County sheriff Republican primary runoff

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- Charleston County voters will head to the polls again next week to decide which Republican candidate for Charleston County sheriff will be on the November ballot.

Greg Kitchens and Carl Ritichie advanced to a runoff as none of the four Republican candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote in the June 11 primary election.

Kitchens, who previously served as a CCSO deputy, earned 45 percent of the vote while Ritchie, the longtime chief of the Mount Pleasant Police Department, finished with 42 percent.

The runoff election will be held on Tuesday, June 25, but eligible voters can cast an early ballot this week. Early voting begins Wednesday, June 19, and ends Friday, June 21.

Any voter, including those who did not participate in the June 11 primary, can cast a ballot in the runoff during the early voting period without an excuse. Those who voted in the Democratic primary are not eligible.

Three polling sites will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day during the early voting period:

• Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections (BVRE) headquarters
  (4340 Corporate Road, North Charleston)
• Essex Village Church of Christ (736 Savage Road, Charleston)
• Wando Mount Pleasant Library (1400 Carolina Park Boulevard, Mt. Pleasant)

Absentee ballots will be sent to voters who previously requested them in the event of a runoff, BVRE officials said. Completed absentee ballots must be returned to BVRE headquarters by 7 p.m. on June 11.

On Election Day, voters can visit their assigned polling location between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. to cast a ballot.

The Alhambra Hall voting precinct will be moved to Miram Brown Community Center (118 Royall Avenue, Mt. Pleasant) for the runoff election, officials said.

The winner of the runoff will take on incumbent Sheriff Kristin Graziano (D) in November.