Current Status Bill Number:381 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:Senate Introduced Date:19970218 Primary Sponsor:Holland All Sponsors:Holland Drafted Document Number:jud6020.dhh Residing Body:Senate Current Committee:Judiciary Committee 11 SJ Date of Last Amendment:19970603 Subject:Candidates, candidacy statements, filing dates; Elections
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
______ ________ _______________________________________ _______ ____________
Senate 19970605 Recommitted to Committee 11 SJ
House 19970603 Amended, read third time,
returned to Senate with amendment
House 19970529 Amended, read second time
House 19970528 Debate adjourned until
Thursday, 19970529
House 19970508 Committee report: majority 25 HJ
favorable, with amendment,
minority unfavorable
House 19970325 Introduced, read first time, 25 HJ
referred to Committee
Senate 19970325 Read third time, sent to House
Senate 19970320 Read second time, notice of
general amendments
Senate 19970319 Committee report: Favorable 11 SJ
Senate 19970218 Introduced, read first time, 11 SJ
referred to Committee
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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE THIS COPY FROM BILL JACKET
AMENDED--NOT PRINTED IN THE HOUSE
Amendment No. 4--P:\AMEND\PT\1352DW.97
June 3, 1997
S. 381
S. Printed 5/29/97--H.
Read the first time March 25, 1997.
TO AMEND SECTION 7-11-15, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO STATEMENTS OF INTENTION OF CANDIDACY, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IF A FILING DATE FALLS ON A SUNDAY OR LEGAL HOLIDAY, THESE DATES SHALL BEGIN OR END, AS APPROPRIATE, ON THE NEXT DAY WHICH IS NOT A SUNDAY OR LEGAL HOLIDAY; AND TO AMEND SECTION 7-11-210, RELATING TO THE DEADLINE FOR FILING A NOTICE OF CANDIDACY AND PLEDGE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IF MARCH THIRTIETH FALLS ON A SUNDAY OR LEGAL HOLIDAY, THE NOTICE AND PLEDGE MUST BE FILED ON THE NEXT DAY WHICH IS NOT A SUNDAY OR LEGAL HOLIDAY.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 7-11-15 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act No. 226 of 1996, is further amended to read:
"Section 7-11-15. (A) In order to qualify as a candidate to run in the general election, all candidates seeking nomination by political party primary or political party convention must file a statement of intention of candidacy between noon on March sixteenth and noon on March thirtieth as provided in this section. If either of these dates fall on a Sunday or legal holiday, these dates shall begin or end, as appropriate, on the next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.
(1) Candidates seeking nomination for a statewide, congressional, or district office which includes more than one county shall file their statements of intention of candidacy with the State Executive Committee of their respective party.
(2) Candidates seeking nomination for the State Senate or House of Representatives must file their statements of intention of candidacy with the county executive committee of their respective party in the county of their residence. The county committees must, within five days of the receipt of the statements, transmit them along with the applicable filing fees to the respective state executive committees. Provided, however However, the county committees must report all filings to the respective state committees no later than five p.m. on March thirtieth. The state executive committees must certify candidates pursuant to Section 7-13-40.
(3) Candidates seeking nomination for a countywide or less than countywide office shall must file their statements of intention of candidacy with the county executive committee of their respective party.
(B) Except as provided herein in this section, the county executive committee of any political party with whom statements of intention of candidacy are filed must file transmit, in turn, all statements of intention of candidacy with to the county election commission by noon on the tenth day following the deadline for filing statements by candidates. If the tenth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, the statements must be filed transmitted by noon the following day on the next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. The State Executive Committee of any political party with whom statements of intention of candidacy are filed must file, in turn, transmit all the statements of intention of candidacy along with the applicable filing fees with to the State Election Commission by noon on the tenth day following the deadline for filing statements by candidates. If the tenth day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or a legal holiday, the statements must be filed by noon the following day on the next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. No candidate's name may appear on a primary election ballot, convention slate of candidates, general election ballot, or special election ballot, except as otherwise provided by law, if the candidate's statement of intention of candidacy has not been filed with the county election commission or State Election Commission, as the case may be, by the deadline. The candidate's name must appear if the candidate produces the signed and dated copy of his timely filed statement of intention of candidacy.
(C) The statement of intention of candidacy required in this section and in Section 7-13-190(B) must be on a form designed and provided by the State Election Commission. It must be filed in triplicate by the candidate, and the political party committee with whom it is filed must stamp it with the date and time received, sign it, keep one copy, return one copy to the candidate, and send one copy to either the county election commission or the State Election Commission, as the case may be.
(D) If, after the closing of the time for filing statements of intention of candidacy, there are not more than two candidates for any one office and one or more of the candidates dies, or withdraws, the state or county committee, as the case may be, if the nomination is by political party primary or political party convention only may, in its discretion, afford opportunity for the entry of other candidates for the office involved; provided, that for the office of State Senator, the discretion must be exercised by the state committee.
(E) The provisions of this section do not apply to nonpartisan school trustee elections in any school district where local law provisions provide for other dates and procedures for filing statements of candidacy or petitions, and to the extent the provisions of this section and the local law provisions conflict, the local law provisions control."
SECTION 2. Section 7-11-210 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act No. 226 of 1996, is further amended to read:
"Section 7-11-210. Every candidate for selection as a nominee of any political party for any state office, United States Senator, member of Congress or solicitor, to be voted for in any party primary election, shall file with and place in the possession of the treasurer of the state committee by twelve o'clock noon on March thirtieth a notice or and pledge in the following form, the blanks being properly filled in and the notice or and pledge signed by the candidate: `I hereby file my notice as a candidate for the nomination as in the primary election to be held on . I affiliate with the Party, and I hereby pledge myself to abide by the results of the primary and I authorize the issuance of an injunction upon ex parte application by the party chairman, as provided by law, should I violate this pledge by offering or campaigning in the ensuing general election for election to this office or any other office for which a nominee has been elected in the party primary election, unless the nominee for the office has become deceased or otherwise disqualified for election in the ensuing general election'. If March thirtieth falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the notice and pledge must be filed on the next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.
Every candidate for selection in a primary election as the nominee of any political party for member of the Senate, member of the House of Representatives, and all county and township less than county offices shall file with and place in the possession of the county chairman or other officer as may be named by the county committee of the county in which they reside by twelve o'clock noon on March thirtieth a like notice and pledge. If March thirtieth falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, the notice and pledge must be filed on the next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.
The notice of candidacy required by this section to be filed by a candidate in a primary must be signed personally by the candidate, and the signature of the candidate must be signed in the presence of the county chairman or other officer as may be named by the county committee with whom the candidate is filing, or a candidate must have his signature on the notice of the candidacy acknowledged and certified by any officer authorized to administer an oath. Any notice of candidacy of any candidate signed by an agent in behalf of a candidate shall not be valid.
In the event that a person who was defeated as a candidate for nomination to an office in a party's primary election shall thereafter offer or campaign as a candidate against any nominee for election to any office in the ensuing general election, the state chairman of the party which held the primary (if the office involved is one voted for in the general election by the electors of more than one county), or the county chairman of the party which held the primary (in the case of all other offices), shall forthwith institute an action in a court of competent jurisdiction for an order enjoining the person from so offering or campaigning in the general election, and the court is hereby empowered upon proof of these facts to issue an order."
SECTION 3. Section 7-13-351 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 62 of 1991, is further amended to read:
"Section 7-13-351. (A) Any nominee by petition for one or more of the offices, national, state, circuit, multi-county district, countywide or less than countywide, to be voted on in the general election must be placed upon the appropriate ballot by the officer, commissioners, or other authority charged by law with preparing the ballot if the petition is submitted to the officer, commissioner, or other authority, as the case may be, for general elections held under Section 7-13-10, not later than twelve o'clock noon on August first or, if August first falls on Sunday or legal holiday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. At the time the petition is submitted, the authority charged with accepting it shall issue a receipt to the person submitting the petition which shall must reflect the date it was submitted and the total number of signatures contained therein. The board of voter registration of each respective county shall check the petition at the request of the authority charged with printing the ballot for that office and shall must certify the results to the authority not later than twelve o'clock noon September first or, if September first falls on Sunday or a legal holiday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.
(B) The petition of any candidate in any special or municipal election must be submitted to the authority charged with printing the ballot for those offices not later than noon, on the forty-fifth day prior to the date of the holding of the election, or if the forty-fifth day falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, by not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. At the time a petition is submitted, the authority charged with accepting it must issue a receipt to the person submitting the petition which must reflect the date it was submitted and the total number of signatures contained therein. The board of voter registration of each respective county must check the petition at the request of the authority charged with printing of the ballots for that office and must certify the results thereof to the authority not later than twelve o'clock noon on the thirtieth day prior to the date of holding the election, or if the thirtieth day falls on Sunday or legal holiday, by twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday.
(C) Once submitted for verification, a petition for nomination of a candidate for any office may not be returned to the petitioner, but must be retained by the authority to whom the petition was submitted and must become a part of the records of the election for which it was submitted.
(D) In the event of an emergency declared by the Governor and the conditions precipitating the emergency declaration prevent a candidate from filing the nominating petition within the time required by this section, the candidate has an additional five days to submit the nominating petition to the appropriate office."
SECTION 4. Section 7-13-352 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"Section 7-13-352. Any candidate for a nonpartisan office, multi-county district, countywide or less than countywide, to be voted on at the time of the general election, who qualifies by statement of candidacy shall must file the statement of candidacy with the authority responsible by law for conducting the election not later than twelve o'clock noon on September first or, if September first falls on a Sunday or legal holiday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday next day which is not a Sunday or legal holiday."
SECTION 5. A member of the General Assembly elected at the time of the general election in 1996, who, because of a federal court order, is required to run in 1997 for the office to which he was elected must be refunded one-half of the filing fee he paid to run for this office in 1996 and may not be charged more than one-half of the filing fee to run for his office in 1997.
SECTION 6. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.