S 219 Session 112 (1997-1998)
S 0219 General Bill, By Wilson
A BILL TO AMEND SECTIONS 7-13-40 AND 7-13-50, BOTH AS AMENDED, AND SECTION
7-17-600, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PARTY PRIMARY
ELECTIONS CONDUCTED BY THE STATE ELECTION COMMISSION, SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT
THE NOMINEE IS THE CANDIDATE RECEIVING THE MOST VOTES CAST IN EXCESS OF FORTY
PERCENT OF THE VOTES CAST FOR THE OFFICE, REDUCE FROM A MAJORITY TO FORTY
PERCENT THE PERCENTAGE OF VOTERS VOTING IN A PRIMARY REQUIRED TO NOMINATE A
CANDIDATE, AND PROVIDE THAT SECOND PRIMARIES MUST BE HELD WHEN NO CANDIDATE
RECEIVES FORTY PERCENT OR MORE OF THE VOTE; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 7-17-610
RELATING TO THE DETERMINATION OF A MAJORITY VOTE.
01/21/97 Senate Introduced and read first time SJ-16
01/21/97 Senate Referred to Committee on Judiciary SJ-16
A BILL
TO AMEND SECTIONS 7-13-40 AND 7-13-50, BOTH AS
AMENDED, AND SECTION 7-17-600, CODE OF LAWS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO PARTY PRIMARY
ELECTIONS CONDUCTED BY THE STATE ELECTION
COMMISSION, SO AS TO REQUIRE THAT THE NOMINEE IS
THE CANDIDATE RECEIVING THE MOST VOTES CAST IN
EXCESS OF FORTY PERCENT OF THE VOTES CAST FOR THE
OFFICE, REDUCE FROM A MAJORITY TO FORTY PERCENT
THE PERCENTAGE OF VOTERS VOTING IN A PRIMARY
REQUIRED TO NOMINATE A CANDIDATE, AND PROVIDE
THAT SECOND PRIMARIES MUST BE HELD WHEN NO
CANDIDATE RECEIVES FORTY PERCENT OR MORE OF THE
VOTE; AND TO REPEAL SECTION 7-17-610 RELATING TO
THE DETERMINATION OF A MAJORITY VOTE.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South
Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 7-13-40 of the 1976 Code, as last amended
by Act 226 of 1996, is further amended to read:
"Section 7-13-40. In the event that If a party
nominates candidates by party primary, a party primary must be held
by the party and conducted by the State Election Commission and the
respective county election commissions on the second Tuesday in
June of each general election year and a second and third primary
each two weeks successively thereafter, if necessary. The
nominee is the candidate receiving the most votes in excess of forty
percent of the votes cast for the office for which the candidate
offered. If no candidate receives at least forty percent of the votes in
the first primary as required by Section 7-17-600, a second primary
must be held. Certification of the names of all candidates to be
placed on primary ballots must be made by the political party
chairman, vice chairman, or secretary to the State Election
Commission or the county election commission, whichever is
responsible under law for preparing the ballot, not later than twelve
o'clock noon on April ninth, or if April ninth falls on a Sunday, not
later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday. The filing
fees for all candidates filing to run in all primaries, except municipal
primaries, must be transmitted by the respective political parties to
the State Election Commission and placed by the executive director
of the commission in a special account designated for use in
conducting the primaries and must be used for that purpose. The
filing fee for each office is one percent of the total salary for the term
of that office or one hundred dollars, whichever amount is greater."
SECTION 2. Section 7-13-50 of the 1976 Code, as last amended
by Act 253 of 1992, is further amended to read:
"Section 7-13-50. (A) A second primary, when
necessary, must be held two weeks after the first and is subject to the
rules governing the first primary. At the second primary the two
candidates among those who do not withdraw their candidacies and
who received more votes in the first primary than any other
remaining candidate alone shall run for any one office and
if. If only one candidate remains, he is
considered nominated, except that if there are two or more vacancies
for any particular office, the number of candidates must be double the
number of vacancies to be filled if so many candidates remain.
(B) (1) In all second primaries the candidate
receiving the largest number of votes cast for a given office must be
declared the nominee for the office whether or not he has received
a majority of the votes cast for that office, and when.
(2) When there are several candidates for
several different offices, then the several candidates receiving the
largest number of votes for the several positions are considered as
nominated for the offices whether or not they received a majority
of the votes cast.
(C) Other primaries, if necessary, must be ordered in a
similar manner by the county election commission or the State
Election Commission, as appropriate."
SECTION 3. Section 7-17-600 of the 1976 Code is amended to
read:
"Section 7-17-600. No candidate shall be declared nominated
in a first primary election unless he received a majority A
candidate may not be declared nominated unless he receives the most
votes cast in excess of forty percent of the votes cast for the
office for which he was a candidate. The question of a
majority percentage vote shall must be
determined by the number of votes cast for any a
particular office and not by the whole number of votes cast in the
primary."
SECTION 4. Section 7-17-610 of the 1976 Code is repealed.
SECTION 5. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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