Fiscally liberal South Carolina State Senators are patting themselves on the back after passing a “ballot fix” bill which aims to avoid a repeat of last year’s election debacle – which effectively disenfranchised thousands of voters.
In a story first reported here on FITS, hundreds of candidates for local and legislative office failed to properly file their statements of economic interest when declaring their candidacies a year ago. As a result of getting tripped up on this technicality – co-authored by then-S.C. Rep. Nikki Haley – the vast majority of these candidates were booted from the 2012 primary ballot.
The ensuing debacle effectively killed any chance reformers had at knocking off several vulnerable incumbents – while producing record low voter turnout.
Now, Senators claim they have “fixed” the problem by passing legislation which would give candidates a “grace period” if they fail to file their statement of economic interest – or filed it improperly.
Really?
This is ridiculous …
If Senators were serious about a “ballot fix,” they would have passed one last year – when it mattered.
Providing a “grace period” for this technicality – which every single office seeker in South Carolina is now intimately familiar with – isn’t a reform, it’s a talking point for Senators who passed a silly law and then failed to correct it when they had the chance.
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9 comments
Call it like it is. This is a self serving, arrogant bunch of Boss Hogg’s who care nothing about anything except their retirement and power. Self centered narcissists at best.
Regardless of what they do, its important to remember that 90% of the money flows to incumbents, 20-30% of voters hit straight ticket, and the party is an incumbent incest festival.
So, we will be screwed no matter what. I mean really. We voted for them in the 70’s and well, heck, we best just suck it up!
It is not a silly law. It is a “sweepstakes.”
If people who wanted to be legislators took the time to read the law on how to run for office it would not have been an issue.
I do not see how this disenfranchised any voter. Unlike the Voter ID law passed by SC, this had no affect on anyone’s ability to vote or write in any person they wanted.
Neither does the Voter ID Law, provided you want to vote and are not trying to do it illegally. What this actually does is give those who are not smart enough to do it correctly the first time a do over. It’s just another example of dumming down our society and giving in to the entitlement mentality. Ergo, I can’t do it like the law requires so change the law to make it easy for me. I guess the legislature felt it needed more dummies to fill their ranks.
We will have to agree to disagree on the Voter ID law. The Government should not be allowed to restrict a Constitutional right without evidence of a compelling need, and even then the remedy should be the least invasive possible. SC’s Voter ID law fulfills neither of those requirements.
It was an unapologetic attempt to make it as difficult to vote as the legislature thought it could get by with.
An attempt was made last year to correct the issue, but it was blocked by the former occupant of the “catbird seat.”
It was NOT an election fiasco. They got their tax increase…that is all it was about!
I don’t think you understand the admendment – It does not give anyone a “grace period”. It actually changed the date for filing where candidates and elected officials have the same filing deadline. Instead of having a drop dead date for candidates and nothing for incumbents what it does say is that if you have not filed your Statement of Economic Interest by the day of the election and you win you cannot take the oath of office. What it also does is put everything in the hands of the election commission. You must file the SEI online and everything else filed at the County or State Election Commission – depending on whether you are running for a Statewide or local office. There is no chasing down the Party official to file. The election commission is then required to give this information to the appropriate party. Get right is you are going to critisize it.