S 381 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 0381 General Bill, By Holland
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 SATURDAY, SUNDAY, OR LEGAL HOLIDAY, THESE DATES SHALL BEGIN OR END,
AS APPROPRIATE, ON THE NEXT DAY WHICH IS NOT A SATURDAY, 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 SATURDAY, SUNDAY, OR LEGAL HOLIDAY, THE NOTICE AND PLEDGE MUST BE FILED
ON THE NEXT DAY WHICH IS NOT A SATURDAY, SUNDAY, OR LEGAL HOLIDAY.
02/18/97 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-3
02/18/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-3
03/19/97 Senate Committee report: Favorable Judiciary SJ-12
03/20/97 Senate Read second time SJ-17
03/20/97 Senate Ordered to third reading with notice of
amendments SJ-17
03/25/97 Senate Read third time and sent to House SJ-9
03/25/97 House Introduced and read first time HJ-22
03/25/97 House Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-22
05/08/97 House Committee report: Majority favorable with amend.,
minority unfavorable Judiciary HJ-3
05/28/97 House Debate adjourned until Thursday, May 29, 1997 HJ-64
05/29/97 House Amended HJ-43
05/29/97 House Read second time HJ-47
05/29/97 House Roll call Yeas-94 Nays-3 HJ-47
06/03/97 House Amended HJ-115
06/03/97 House Read third time and returned to Senate with
amendments HJ-115
06/05/97 Senate Recommitted to Committee on Judiciary SJ-8
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
Introduced by Senator Holland
S. Printed 5/29/97--H.
Read the first time March 25, 1997.
A BILL
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.
-----XX----- |