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By Theo Burman
Live News Reporter
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A fight erupted at an early voting location in South Carolina when a supporter of former President Donald Trump refused to take off their "Make America Great Again" hat.
The incident saw the Trump supporter fight with poll workers who asked him to take off the hat in Orangeburg County, in line with state rules restricting the portrayal of campaign promotions within polling stations.
In clips of the altercation that quickly went viral on social media, the disgruntled voter can be heard calling a poll worker who explained the rule to him a "f****** b****", before gesturing to his cap and saying, "this is my m******** right, right here."
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The voter then took off his cap and threw it out of the voting area, before tapping one of the poll workers on the head, prompting them to slap him in return.
The conflict escalated as the voter began following the worker around the room, with other staff intervening to separate the two people. The voter was then escorted out of the building.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said that they were investigating the incident. Newsweek contacted Orangeburg County officials for an update on the situation.
According to South Carolina state regulations, voters are not allowed to wear anything that displays a political party, candidate name or ballot issue.
The law reads: "The poll manager shall use every reasonable means to keep the area within five hundred feet of any such entrance clear of political literature and displays, and the county and municipal law enforcement officers, upon request of a poll manager, shall remove or cause to be removed any material within five hundred feet of any such entrance distributed or displayed in violation of this section."
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Early voting in the state started on October 21 and will continue for two more days until November 2. After that, South Carolinians will only be able to vote on Election Day itself.
Almost 60 million Americans have voted early in the 2024 election. More than 25.2 million people voting in person, while 23.4 million people have returned a mail-in ballot. More than 66.4 million mail-in ballots have been requested nationwide.
Early voting is available in all except two states; Alabama and Mississippi. In these southern states, voters need an approved reason to register for an absentee ballot.
Due to the pandemic, 70 percent of voters used alternatives to in-person voting in the 2020 election.
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