26,000 Absentee Ballots Cast in S.C. GOP Primary

South Carolina election officials say more than 26,000 votes have been cast in next week's primaries.
    
The State Election Commission said as of Friday afternoon, voters have requested almost 34,000 absentee ballots for Tuesday's primaries, with more than three-quarters of them already returned.
    
Officials say about 16,500 of the 21,200 absentee ballots requested for the Republican primary have been returned. About 9,700 of the 12,500 ballots sent out for the Democratic primary are already in hand.
    
The turnout is a little slower than the 2010 primaries when 39,000 absentee votes were cast. Those primaries had contested governor races in both parties, while this year, there are primaries for the U.S. Senate seats occupied by both Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott.