Friday, July 27, 2012
A May S.C. Supreme Court decision to uphold S.C. election law caused hundreds of non-incumbents to be purged from the ballot as voters seek to give incumbents the boot.
The Nov. 6 ballot could prove confusing to some South Carolina voters. Considering that political experts have called this election year "unprecedented" and "unusual" that might not come as a surprise. Even though neither Mitt Romney nor Barack Obama is expected to set foot in the Palmetto State to campaign, the ballot confusion could have significant ramifications for voters. The most heated election battles in South Carolina are in the primary, where gerrymandered districts decide which nominee to send to the general election against little or no competition. But this year, many incumbents dodged the primary challenge when hundreds of non-incumbent candidates were purged from the ballot. Even some non-incumbents who won the primary could…
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Judge ordered for county Republican Party election officer Tony Piscatella to turn in candidate filings Tuesday.
ST. GEORGE — The Dorchester County Clerk of Court received Republican Party non-incumbent candidate filings Tuesday from county GOP election officer Tony Piscatella. The judge ordered Monday the documents be turned over to the clerk's office and made available to the public. View them on the right of this story. The filings have come under fire from the Dorchester County Democrats and from within the county Republican Party. There have been allegations that some or all of the non-incumbent candidates — including three who were to continue to the Nov. 6 general election — had not filed in accordance with S.C. election law. The three candidates affected by the current lawsuit are S.C. House District 97 GOP nominee Ed Carter, S.C. Senate …
Saturday, July 21, 2012
S.C. GOP intervened in Pickens County and has vowed to intervene elsewhere. What are your thoughts?
The S.C. Republican Party issued a statement Friday saying they will continue to decertify improperly certified candidates, as it did recently in Pickens County. Click here to read more about the party's executive committee supporting Chair Chad Connelly's decision in Pickens County. The statement reads: "The Supreme Court’s orders to disqualify improperly-certified candidates are continuing. There is no statute of limitations on compliance. If a candidate was improperly certified, the State Party will absolutely not certify them for the general election." Dorchester County Republican Party faces a lawsuit brought by the county Democratic Party, alleging the GOP certified candidates that had not filed in accordance with state election law…
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Election commission says no one is officially on or off the ballot until Aug. 15 as lawsuit rattles Dorchester County non-incumbents.
SUMMERVILLE — A court order requiring the Dorchester County Republican Party and the S.C. Republican Party to decertify non-incumbent nominees in the general election has expired but those candidates now cannot appear on the Nov. 6 ballot without another court order, according to an S.C. Elections Commission spokesman. Deadline for certifying candidates for the general election is noon Aug. 15. The Election Commission requires parties to certify general election candidates, even after they win the primary and those results are certified. The now-expired court order came with the June 29 lawsuit filed by the Dorchester County Democratic Party against the county and state GOP, and county and state Election Commission, claiming that the non-…
Saturday, June 30, 2012
As the Dorchester County Democrats questions the county Republicans, Patch wants to know what you think of the June 12 primary ballot.
The Dorchester County Democratic Party v. Dorchester County Republican Party lawsuit has been filed, just weeks after historically low turnout for the S.C. Primary, do you think the correct candidates appeared on the ballot? Tell us in the comments and vote in the poll!
Friday, June 29, 2012
Democrats cite improper filing and ask for decertification of all non-incumbent Republican candidates in Dorchester County.
SUMMERVILLE — The Dorchester County Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Friday against the county Republican Party, chairwoman Carroll Duncan and a host of local and state GOP and elections officers. A judge has issued a temporary restraining order. Court dates are expected in the second week in July. The suit claims Dorchester County Republican Party illegally certified all of its non-incumbent candidates, and asks the First Judicial Circuit to decertify the candidates, including GOP nominees for S.C. House District 97 Ed Carter and for S.C. Senate District 38 Sean Bennett. Nearly 250 candidates across the state were purged from ballots after two S.C. Supreme Court decisions leading up to the June 12 primary that said parties must …
Monday, March 5, 2012
S.C. county requires candidates to make pledge to get on ballot
The Republican Party in one South Carolina county adjusted its policies last week to require candidates to sign pledges asserting that they live up to certain conservative principles, according to The Clinton Chronicle. The Laurens County GOP added 28 "principles of Republicanism" to a pledge that a candidate must sign in order to be on a Republican primary ballot there. Some of the required pledge items include: You must oppose abortion, in any circumstances. You must uphold the right to have guns, all kinds of guns. You must endorse the idea of a balanced state and federal budget, whatever it takes, even if your primary responsibility is to be sure the county budget is balanced. You must favor, and live up to, abstinence before …
Thursday, January 19, 2012
With Texas Gov. Rick Perry dropping out of the GOP Primary race ahead of Thursday night's debate, the last four candidates in the field took to the stage at North Charleston Coliseum for the final debate ahead of South Carolina's primary on Saturday
CHARLESTON — And then there were four. The remaining candidates for the Republican nomination for president, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, squared off Thursday night in North Charleston in the final debate ahead of the South Carolina Primary on Saturday. Texas Gov. Rick Perry bowed out of the race earlier on Thursday. CNN moderator John King opened the debate asking Gingrich about an ABC News interview with one of his ex-wives in which she revealed that he asked her to have an open marriage. Gingrich called it despicable to even bring it up. "I am frankly astounded that CNN would take trash like that and use it to open a …
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Thousands flock to Myrtle Beach for weekend of GOP events.
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Patch dispatched seven local editors to Myrtle Beach for the South Carolina GOP convention and debate. The event attracted thousands of GOP faithful and hundreds of reporters from around the globe. Our cameras were snapping and rolling the entire weekend. Here is a collection of what we saw.
Twenty-five percent of the women voting in a live poll at the GOP debate in Myrtle Beach changed their vote based on what they heard during the debate.
Newt Gingrich may have won their minds, but Rick Santorum won their hearts. A group of Republican women gathered Monday night at the Sheraton Convention in Myrtle Beach to participate in live polling while watching the Republican Presidential Debate. Using dial-test technology, Palladian View, a political marketing firm led by Karen Floyd, the former chair of the SCGOP, was able to record the real-time reactions of 18 women participating in the poll as they watched the debate. When asked how the debate had affected their vote, 25 percent of the women who responded said their minds had been changed. The marketing group found that 50 percent of the 18 women participating in the poll said Gingrich won the debate. However, 56 percent of those …
perry crinshaw
10:06 pm on Tuesday, July 24, 2012
so who inside the dorchester county republican party stole the bennett paperwork to cause chairwoman duncan to ask for a re-check of the paperwork on june 13th (the day after rose was defeated?) why was it important to check this out the day after the election rather than prior to the election? the supreme court ruling was available before end of may. why wasn't it checked then? who stands to … more ›