S 0003 General Bill, By Leventis
 A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION
 8-13-1355 SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT ON THE NEXT REGULAR WORKING DAY OF THE STATE
 ELECTION COMMISSION AFTER A POLL IS INITIATED BY A PERSON, CANDIDATE, OR
 COMMITTEE, THE TEXT OF QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED ALONG WITH THE NAME OF THE POLL'S
 SPONSOR MUST BE ON FILE WITH THE COMMISSION, TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION AND THE
 COVERED PERIOD AND APPLICABILITY TO PRIMARIES AND RUN-OFF ELECTIONS.

   01/14/97  Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-86
   01/14/97  Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-86
   03/19/97  Senate Committee report: Favorable with amendment
                     Judiciary SJ-9
   03/20/97  Senate Amended SJ-18
   03/20/97  Senate Read second time SJ-18
   03/20/97  Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
                     amendments SJ-18
   03/25/97  Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-8
   03/25/97  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-21
   03/25/97  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-21

March 20, 1997

S. 3

S. Printed 3/20/97--S.

Read the first time January 14, 1997.

A BILL

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 8-13-1355 SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT ON THE NEXT REGULAR WORKING DAY OF THE STATE ELECTION COMMISSION AFTER A POLL IS INITIATED BY A PERSON, CANDIDATE, OR COMMITTEE, THE TEXT OF QUESTIONS TO BE ASKED ALONG WITH THE NAME OF THE POLL'S SPONSOR MUST BE ON FILE WITH THE COMMISSION, TO PROVIDE AN EXCEPTION AND THE COVERED PERIOD AND APPLICABILITY TO PRIMARIES AND RUN-OFF ELECTIONS.

Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 7-3-45 . (A) For purposes of this section:

(1) 'Commission' means the State Election Commission.

(2) 'Initiated' means the beginning of the conduct of the first and any subsequent poll.

(3) 'Poll' means the solicitation of opinions or of answers to questions posed to the public when the person taking the poll or the text of the poll itself refers to, by name, (a) any candidate in any election held pursuant to this title or (b) any political party; the word `poll' applies only to a poll paid for or authorized by a candidate or a candidate's committee, as respectively defined in Section 8-13-1300.

(B) The provisions of this section apply to polls conducted at any time during the six-month period prior to the general election.

(C) The entity in charge of conducting a poll must file the name of the person or persons who authorized, donated, paid for, or sponsored the poll, or any combination of these, together with the text of the poll with the commission on the next regular working day of the commission after the poll is initiated. However, if the poll is initiated ten days or less before the general election, the information must be filed before the poll is initiated.

(D) The information required to be filed with the commission is subject to disclosure under Chapter 4 of Title 30. The commission must maintain records of information filed pursuant to this section for one hundred twenty days after the general election.

(E) A person who violates the provisions of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars or be imprisoned for not more than thirty days, or both."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.