A misleading video shows the SC polling station not allowing people to cast their own votes

Claim:

A video shows a poll in South Carolina that didn’t allow people to cast their own votes.

Rating:

The night before Election Day 2024, a video of someone who claims to have witnessed suspicious activity at a polling place in South Carolina has been shared widely on social media.

In the video, the person claims to have seen people pull up in a vehicle and vote — meaning, he said he saw poll workers approach the car with a voting machine and apparently operate that device on behalf of voters:

I just passed one of the places where you vote where I live and you don’t go in to vote. You pull into the car, they pull the car into your car. They push the buttons for you. There were no Republicans there. They were all Democrats. What is happening in America? What the hell is going on in our country right now with our elections?

It was not clear how or with what evidence, the narrator believed that the people involved “were all Democrats”. The video camera remained focused on him – it did not show the alleged activity at the station – because he said there was “too much traffic”.

However, as the video gained popularity on X, the claim turned into statement that a “polling place in South Carolina” was “not allowing Americans to cast their own ballots”:

There was no evidence to confirm or deny the narrator’s story. The video did not specify a polling place in South Carolina or any details that would help discern whether what he claimed actually happened.

That said, the activity he described is consistent with South Carolina voting protocols for disabled or elderly voters. As noted on the South Carolina Board of Elections website, people with accessibility issues can vote by car (our emphasis):

Voters who cannot access the polling station or are queuing to vote because of a disability or who are 65 years of age or older can vote in their vehicle. Curbside voting does not require a handicap parking placard. Poll managers monitor the polling area from the curb at minimum 15-minute intervals. Only the voter is permitted to enter the vehicle during voting, unless the voter is entitled to assistance. The driver and other passengers in the vehicle are not entitled to vote curbside unless they individually meet the qualifications.

In addition, some people have the right to operating assistance actual voting machines (our emphasis):

Voters with disabilities and voters who are blind or illiterate can receive voting assistance. You must inform a survey manager if you need assistance. You can choose anyone to help you vote, except your employer, an agent of your employer, or an officer or agent of your union. Poll managers also have printed instructions available for voters who are deaf or hard of hearing.

In conclusion, there is no evidence that South Carolina officials are preventing people from voting on their own, and the activity described in the video is consistent with state regulations governing accessible voting.

As such, it is disingenuous to frame the video as evidence of a poll in South Carolina that did not allow people to cast their own votes.