ELECTORAL VOTES 9

2012 ELECTION Likely Republican New! 2012 South Carolina Polls >>

ABOUT
SOUTH CAROLINA

2010 Census Reapportionment: South Carolina will gain one electoral vote, giving it 9 for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. This is the first change since 1932, when it dropped from 9 to 8.



South Carolina, one of the original 13 colonies, attained statehood in May 1788 and has participated in every presidential election except 1864, when it had seceded from the Union. South Carolina has had eight electoral votes since 1932. Like many other southern states, South Carolina voted almost exclusively Democratic from the time of Reconstruction through the early 1960s, before turning Republican largely in response to civil rights legislation. South Carolina was one of only six states to vote for Barry Goldwater in 1964 and has voted Republican since, except in 1976 when it voted for fellow southerner Jimmy Carter. In 2008, John McCain defeated Barack Obama 54% to 45%.