The Florence County Republican Party is accused of ignoring a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling by certifying several candidates who should have been removed from the primary ballot, according to a lawsuit filed this week.
Florence County Democratic Party chairwoman Sheila Gallagher filed the lawsuit on Monday, listing the state and county elections commissions as additional defendants. Republican ethics lawyers Kevin Hall and Butch Bowers will be representing the Florence GOP.
After the state Supreme Court ruled that candidates who improperly filed a statement of economic interest should be removed from the June primary ballot, SCNow’s John Sweeny reports how Florence County Republican Party chairman Bill Pickle worried that several candidates wouldn’t qualify:
The morning of May 4, just hours before the filing, Pickle discussed the controversy on his local talk radio show with Rep. Phillip Lowe, R-Florence. Pickle said at the time that four local Republicans were in danger of being removed from the ballot: Florence County Council District 9 candidates Susan Minck and Warren Snell, Florence City Council At-Large candidate Ron Moore and S.C. House District 62 candidate Carl D. “Chippy” Johnson.
But the party certified all Florence County candidates anyway, with Pickle explaining the party’s rationale in a press release posted on Facebook:
The FCGOP acted in good faith based on the information we received from the SCGOP to accept candidate filings and to qualify candidates by viewing evidence online that the Statement of Economic Interests had been duly filed with the SC Ethics Commission. As a result, the FCGOP Officers believe that all of our candidates are qualified and each candidate’s name should appear on the June 12th primary ballot.
As we pointed out on Monday, the court’s ruling instructed political parties to remove all disqualified candidates from the ballot — regardless of whose fault it was or whether they agree with the ruling. PPR went to a public meeting of the state Republican Party’s executive committee on Saturday in order to find out how the party was responding to the ballot crisis, but SCGOP Chairman Chad Connelly took the meeting into executive session in order to remove this reporter.
Florence isn’t the only county where political parties are accused of defying the court’s ruling, and there are almost certainly other local parties certifying candidates who should have been disqualified. Adding to the confusion, a federal judge could wade into the ballot crisis this afternoon on behalf of a candidate who’s suing to get back onto the ballot.
Look for updates to this developing story as they become available.
In its Order, the SC Supreme Court famously declared that “the law means what it says” in determining that pursuant to SC Code, no (non-exempt) candidate’s name may appear on the Primary or General Election Ballot unless he or she filed his Statement of Economic Interests “at the same time and with the same official” with whom he filed his Statement of Intention of Candidacy. Every non-exempt candidate who did not file these forms “at the same time and with the same official” was rightly ordered off the ballot. Why? Because, as the Court rightly stated, the law is clear and “it means what it says.”
Recognizing that “the law means what it says,” we must look to the fact that pubic officials are exempt from this requirement so long as they have a current SEI on file with the Ethics Commission. SC Code 8-13-110 defines “public official” to specifically include candidates. SC Code 8-13-110 also defines “candidate” as anyone who has announced his intention to run for an office. The Florence County Democratic Party would have the Court believe the law means something much more narrow than it says, but we know that “the law MEANS WHAT IT SAYS” – and so long as a candidate has a current SEI on file (ie if he filed it before he filed his SIC), then he is exempt from filing it with the filing officer at the same time he filed his SIC. The law means what it says. On this point, it is clear – and the Florence County Republican candidates were properly certified. Most of the Florence County Democrats were properly not certified because they filed their SEIs days later.
Furthermore, there must come a time when the litigation stops and candidates can know for sure if they’re on the ballot or not – and voters can know for sure who their candidates are. In the hanging chad case, the US Supreme Court recognized that litigation could go on and on forever, but that in the interest of a stable government, we had to PUT AN END TO IT. In addition to the fact that it is clear that the Florence County Republican Party certified properly, SC Supreme Court, please send a message that does not invite more litigation – send a message of stability. That this mess is over and the next step if for the incoming legislature to pick up the pieces for the next election.