The Committee on Judiciary proposes the following amendment (SJ-406.PB0007S):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, by striking SECTION 1 and inserting:

SECTION X. Section 7-15-420(D) and (E) of the S.C. Code are amended to read:

(D) Beginning no earlier than 7:00 a.m. on election day, the absentee ballots may be tabulated, including any absentee ballots received on election day before the polls are closed and the tabulated data collected from those ballots and from the ballots cast during the early voting period may be loaded into the election management system. If any absentee ballot is challenged, the return-addressed envelope must not be opened, but must be put aside and the procedure set forth in Section 7-13-830 must be utilized; but the absentee voter must be given reasonable notice of the challenged ballot.

(E) Results of the early voting period and absentee ballot tabulation must not be publicly reported until after the polls are closed. An election official, election worker, candidate, or watcher who intentionally violates the prohibition contained in this subsection is guilty of a felony and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than one thousand dollars or imprisoned not more than five years.

SECTION X. Section 7-13-1160 of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

Section 7-13-1160. Within twenty-four hours of the completion of the canvassing and counting of ballots, the persons in charge of each such election in each county shall notify the State Election Commission of the unofficial results of such election in each such county; provided, however, that failure to comply with the provisions of this section shall not invalidate the votes cast therein The unofficial election results returned by the managers to the county boards of voter registration and elections must be reported continuously and without undue delay in the manner prescribed by the State Election Commission.