Every four years, nine voters in South Carolina play a crucial role in how the U.S. chooses its presidents.

These men and women are charged with the vital responsibility of representing the will of the state’s voters as they cast their votes in the Electoral College for the 270 votes needed to win the White House.

The process for selecting voters varies by state, but in South Carolina, political parties submit slates to serve as electors. Those names have already been certified for 2024.

The Secretary of State’s office received the names about 60 days before election day. Some parties even submitted them earlier.

The Post and Courier requested copies of the submissions from each major party, including the SC Democratic Party and the SC Republican Party.

These individuals are deeply committed party loyalists, drawn from a group of individuals that includes current and former party officials, state legislators, political candidates, and activists.

In South Carolina, these voters cannot work against their party or put their own personal preferences above the will of the people. Not only are voters bound by the state’s popular vote, they are also subject to criminal charges and possible fines.

This year, South Carolina’s Electoral College meeting will take place on December 17 in Columbia.

Here are the voters in South Carolina for the two major political parties, Republican and Democratic, nominating two at-large electors and one elector from each of the state’s seven congressional districts.

Republicans

• Drew McKissick, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party is one of two voters in his party. If former President Donald Trump wins, it will be his fourth time as a member of the Electoral College. He cast his vote as an elector in 2004, 2012 and 2020. He has held elected and appointed positions within the Republican Party at all levels. Nationally, he served as co-chair of the Republican National Committee from January 2023 to March 2024.
• Cindy Costa, a Republican National Committeewoman from Charlestonis another general voter. Like McKissick, she previously served on the Electoral College, where she cast ballots in 2020. She has been called a GOP power broker by CNN and has served on the Republican National Committee since 1996.
• Xiaodan Li, a county of Beaufort Republican, is a well-known Republican activist in the 1st Congressional District. She serves on the party’s state board and serves as a Beaufort County board member.
• Tyson Grinstead is chairman of the Richland County GOP.
• Susan Aiken is a former member of the state party executive committee, where she served as chair of the 3rd Congressional District. She is a lifelong Republican Party activist. This year, she attended her fifth Republican National Convention as a delegate for the SC GOP.
• Alexia Newman is A member of the party’s state board and served as a board member for Spartanburg County.
• William Oden is chairman of the Sumter County GOP.
• Moye Graham is chairman of the Clarendon County GOP.
• J.D. Chaplin is chairman of the Darlington County GOP.

Democrats

• Former Governor Dick Riley, the only two-term Democratic governor in South Carolina history, he is one of his party’s two at-large electors. If Vice President Kamala Harris wins, he will vote at 91. His focus on improving the state’s schools while governor led him to become President Bill Clinton’s education chief. He was also the longest-serving U.S. Secretary of Education.
• Former Governor James Hodges, the only other living former Democratic governor of the SC is another general voter. Hodges is the last Democrat to hold the Governor’s Mansion, serving one term from 1999 to 2003. He is perhaps best known for pushing the state to introduce a lottery.
• Sue Jaarwood is second vice chairman of the Beaufort County Democratic Party.
• Lessie B. Price is the former First Vice Chairman of the Democratic Party of South Carolina. Previously, she was a longtime member of the Aiken County Council, where she was the first woman elected to a citywide council seat.
• Walt McLeod is a former state legislator. In 2016, he decided to retire from politics after 21 years in office.
• Helen Bennett is the Secretary of the Rules and Credentials Committee of the Democratic Party of Spartanburg County.
• Laurie Slade Funderburk is a former state lawmaker who was first elected in 2004. She lost her re-election bid in 2020.
• Margaret Sumter is the chairman of the South Carolina Democratic Party’s Council of Black Democrats.
• Maggie W. Glover is a former state lawmaker who made history when she became the first black woman elected to the Senate in 1993. Previously she was a member of the House of Representatives.