South Carolina Republicans sue state to end open primary elections
The party says open primaries let nonmembers dilute its nominees and asks a federal court to enforce its new membership-only rule.
- On July 4, the South Carolina Republican Party filed a federal lawsuit against the South Carolina State Election Commission, seeking to restrict primary election participation exclusively to registered Republicans.
- Party leaders argue the current "open primary" system violates their First Amendment freedom of association, citing years of failed legislative efforts to establish partisan voter registration.
- "We're declaring our independence from a system that forces us to allow Democrats to participate in choosing our nominees," SCGOP Chairman Drew McKissick said, comparing current rules to allowing rival sports fans to select players.
- Executive Director Conway Belangia and commission members are named as defendants in the suit, though Belangia declined to comment on the pending litigation when reached on July 8.
- This legal effort mirrors similar trends in Texas and Idaho, following a decade of unsuccessful attempts to work with the General Assembly on partisan voter registration.
16 Articles
16 Articles
Which Voting Rules Are Being Challenged In South Carolina?
The South Carolina Republican Party has filed a federal lawsuit seeking to end the state's open primary system and limit participation in Republican primaries to registered party members. According to the report, the lawsuit argues that requiring the party to allow non-Republicans to vote in its primary elections violates its First Amendment right to freedom of association.The report said party leaders turned to the courts after years of unsucce…
South Carolina Republicans sue state to end open primary elections
The South Carolina Republican Party has filed a lawsuit in a bid to force the state’s open primary elections to close as part of a long-running push to restrict GOP contests to only registered Republican voters. The Palmetto State currently does not require registration by party and allows voters to participate in either of…
S.C. GOP sues to close party primaries - Statehouse
South Carolina Republican Party leaders filed a federal lawsuit this week to win what the state’s GOP-controlled legislature has repeatedly refused to give them: a closed primary system that would require all S.C. voters to register by party. The post S.C. GOP sues to close party primaries appeared first on Charleston City Paper.
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