LOWCOUNTRY, SC (WCIV) – On Friday, the South Carolina Democratic Party announced that it had filed a lawsuit to extend the registration deadline because of Hurricane Helene.

In its argument, SCDP referred to a previous extension request that was granted following Hurricane Florence.

The court granted this request, so that the deadline no longer ends on Sunday, but on October 14th.

But that’s not the only thing notable about this election.

News 4 caught up with a political science professor who shares that this election is pretty unique.

READ MORE |Vice President Harris assesses North Carolina’s Hurricane Helene recovery efforts

He says what sets this election apart is the candidates’ focus on each other and not on the problems they are trying to solve.

“That’s what’s unique about it, not that there’s a problem area. It would be important that the economy is important and both candidates talk about it, but it’s more about saying that the other party’s plan, the other candidate’s plan, isn’t going to work than it is about the details of their own plan because we’re in “We are in a time of uncertainty in such a situation,” said Mark Owens, professor of political science at the Citadel.

Additionally, voters may have concerns about trust in the electoral process, a concern that has been talked about for years.

According to a September Gallup poll, 84 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of Republicans believe the vote was accurate.

READ MORE |Rep. Nancy Mace introduces a bill to end FEMA’s Shelter and Services program

A representative from the state election commission says they know there is a lot of bad information and that confidence in the election could be greater. But he also adds that transparency is one of their top priorities.

“The voting system will be publicly tested before Election Day to ensure that everyone knows that this system counts everything accurately,” said John Michael Catalano, the SEC’s public information officer. “The electoral process is public throughout the primary election period and on election day. Anyone can follow the votes in real time. After Election Day, we audit each county and before certifying the results, a hand-count audit is conducted to ensure that the votes on the voter-verified paper ballots match the electronic tally of the voting systems,” he added.

Catalano suggests that people should sign up to be poll workers if they truly distrust election officials or the voting process.

“If someone truly distrusts election officials or just the election process in general, I strongly encourage them to sign up to be a poll worker. We would be happy, there is no better way to learn the ins and outs of the electoral system than by working on election day and seeing how it all unfolds. And we’ve seen that a lot of people who have signed up to be poll workers leave Election Day with a much better feeling about how everything works because they experienced it up close and personal.”