County Republicans appear to defy court ruling, improperly certify candidates - South Carolina’s political parties are reeling from a State Supreme Court decision removing nearly 200 state and local candidates from the primary ballot for improperly filing an ethics statement, Palmetto Public Record reported yesterday. As infighting and finger-pointing over the screw-up abound, state Republicans are shutting down public access to their discussions over the party’s response to the ruling. That may have something to do with evidence suggesting multiple county Republican parties defied the court’s ruling by certifying candidates who filed their forms incorrectly.
Senate seeks an election fix - An attempt to change state law to allow some of the 180 disqualified candidates back on the June primary ballots could be foiled by legislative infighting and the need for federal approval, according to The State’s Adam Beam. Any change to the state’s election laws requires approval from the U.S. Justice Department because of the 1969 Voting Rights Act, and Justice Department officials can take up to 60 days to make a decision. South Carolina’s Republican and Democratic primaries are scheduled for June 6 — 29 days away.
Ousting leaves legislative seats with no primary - The removal of 55 candidates seeking legislative office from the June ballot leaves 20 additional House and Senate seats without a primary contest, including several seats with no Democrat or Republican left in the running, according to the Associated Press’ Seanna Adcox. The former legislative candidates were among nearly 200 tossed off the ballots following last week’s state Supreme Court ruling on improperly filed financial paperwork.
Galivants Ferry Stump carries on in fiery tradition - Speakers at Monday night’s Galivants Ferry Stump got a Democratic crowd fired up as they exhorted voters to make sure everyone who’s eligible is registered and votes to prevent a Republican takeover of federal, state and local offices this year, according to the Myrtle Beach Sun News’ Lorena Anderson. The Stump, which is presented bi-annually by the families of John Monroe J. Holliday and Joseph Holliday, has been a political tradition for 136 years.
Opinion: Ethics inquiry process needs an overhaul - The S.C. House on Tuesday opened the door slightly to its ethics inquiry process, but slammed it shut Wednesday with a perfunctory vote to clear Gov. Nikki Haley of charges she had illegally lobbied while a state representative, according to an editorial in the Hilton Head Island Packet. Neither Haley nor the public was served by what happened this past week, not if the goal was to show us that she had done nothing wrong in her work for the Lexington Medical Center Foundation and while consulting for Wilbur Smith Associates, a firm that has received state contracts.
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