Madyson Brown
palmettoreport@gmail.com

(Rock Hill, S.C.) — As South Carolina voters prepare to head to the polls next month to vote in the June 9 primary for the 2026 midterm elections, more young people, including students at Winthrop University, are being encourage to participate.

This year, people in the state will be voting in federal races for U.S. Senate and U.S. House and in many important statewide elections, including those for governor, secretary of state, attorney general, comptroller general, superintendent of education, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and state representative.

There are also a number of local races, which vary by location. In Rock Hill voters will be casting ballots in races for county council and probate court.

Yet, voter turnout, especially in primary elections, can often be very low. For example, according to the S.C. Election Commission, in the last midterm elections in 2022, voter turnout in South Carolina was slightly more than 50%, but only 16.9% in the primary.

However, it should be noted that South Carolina saw record turnout in the 2020 and 2024 general elections, which were both presidential years.

Thus, as the demographics of voters change and turnout often remains low, young people are being encouraged to get out to the polls and make their voices heard, especially in an era of voter apathy.

Officials say changes in media may have affected the distribution of information, which may have emphasized the importance of voting. 

“We have lost our local papers, we have lost our local radio and TV stations that would advocate for the candidates who are running in local elections,” said Diane Cooper, a York County voting clerk. 

“Politics begins at the grassroots. It really does, it begins in your local community,” Cooper said.

As a result of these changes in a digital society, many voting campaigns targeted at young people, especially students at Winthrop, have focused on social media.

“The first thing that people really need to do is to have information. We’ve been doing an Instagram campaign and also just an online campaign and student email campaign to tell people where they can find information about races they might have to vote in,” said Katarina Moyon, director of the John C. West Forum on Politics and Policy at Winthrop.

Historically, the university has had an actively engaged student body when it comes to voting.

In 2022 and 2024, Winthrop was recognized as one of the most engaged college campuses by the ALL in Campus Democracy Challenge.

In the 2020 presidential election alone, 74.5% of Winthrop students turned out to the polls.

Yet, more work is still being done to engage students early in their college careers.

“We have had some engagement, especially freshmen, most often in ACAD classes where they’re really learning how to actually register themselves to vote, so I’m excited about that,” said Moyon, who often volunteers as a poll worker.

While many young voters may feel apathetic about the impact of their vote, many officials still encourage them to get out anyway and vote to make their voices heard.

“Every vote that casts matters and is important and we just want to see as many people as we can,” said Melissa Robinson, a York County voting clerk.

* Editor’s note: Some of the reporting in this story was originally conducted during the fall 2025 semester.