In the event that 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 boards of voter registration and elections on the second Tuesday in June of each general election year, and a second and third primary each two weeks successively thereafter, if necessary. Written 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 board of voter registration and elections whichever is responsible under law for preparing the ballot, not later than twelve o'clock noon on April fifth, or if April fifth falls on a Saturday or Sunday, not later than twelve o'clock noon on the following Monday. Political parties nominating candidates by party primary must verify the qualifications of those candidates prior to certification to the appropriate election commission of the names of candidates to be placed on primary ballots. The written verification required by this section must contain a statement that each candidate certified meets, or will meet by the time of the general election, or as otherwise required by law, the qualifications for office for which he has filed. A political party must not certify any candidate who does not or will not by the time of the general election, or as otherwise required by law, meet the qualifications for the office for which the candidate has filed, and such candidate's name shall not be placed on a primary ballot. 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 primary elections 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.

HISTORY: 1962 Code Section 23-396; 1952 Code Section 23-372; 1950 (46) 2059; 1954 (48) 1447; 1966 (54) 2093, 2340; 1977 Act No. 133 Section 3; 1988 Act No. 363, Section 2, eff March 14, 1988; 1992 Act No. 253, Section 2, eff February 19, 1992; 1994 Act No. 497, Part II, Section 134, eff June 29, 1994; 1996 Act No. 226, Section 3, eff February 12, 1996; 2000 Act No. 236, Section 3, eff March 7, 2000; 2013 Act No. 61, Section 5, eff June 25, 2013.

Code Commissioner's Note

Pursuant to the directive in 2014 Act No. 196, Section 8, at the direction of the Code Commissioner, references in this section to county election commissions or commissioners or county boards of voter registration were changed to the "Board of Voter Registration and Elections" and board members as appropriate.

Editor's Note

1992 Act No. 289, Sections 5, 6, effective March 12, 1992, read as follows:

"SECTION 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-40, Code of Laws of South Carolina, 1976, for 1992 only, the date for primary elections is the fourth Tuesday in August."

"SECTION 6. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for candidates for school board whose primary elections coincide with the general primary election established by Section 7-13-40 of the 1976 Code:

"(1) for 1992 only, the dates for filing for all candidates seeking nomination by a political party primary, political party convention, or petition is between noon June first and noon June twenty-fifth;

"(2) for 1992 only, the date for filing the notice of candidacy and pledge is by noon on June twenty-fifth; and

"(3) for 1992 only, the date for primary elections is the fourth Tuesday in August."

1997 Act No. 1, Section 6, eff February 12, 1997, provides as follows:

"SECTION 6. For purposes of the 1997 election for the members of the House of Representatives to be elected from those election districts revised by the provisions of Section 2-1-25 of the 1976 Code, as amended by Section 1 of this act, and for the members of the Senate to be elected from those election districts revised by Section 4 of this act, the following provisions apply:

"(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-11-15 of the 1976 Code, the dates for filing for all candidates seeking nomination by a political party primary or political party convention are between noon on June second and noon on June sixteenth.

"(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-11-210 of the 1976 Code, the date for filing the notice of candidacy and pledge is by noon on June sixteenth.

"(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-40 of the 1976 Code, 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 noon on June eighteenth.

"(4) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-40 of the 1976 Code, the date for primary elections is the second Tuesday in August.

"(5) For these elections held in 1997 only, if run-off primary elections are necessary they must be held on August twenty-sixth.

"(6) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-351 of the 1976 Code, all candidates seeking nomination by petition must file these petitions with the State Election Commission no later than noon on September ninth.

"(7) Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 7-13-350 of the 1976 Code, the names of all nominees to be placed on the special election ballots must be certified by the respective political party to the appropriate election commissioners by noon on September eleventh."

2013 Act No. 61, Sections 11, 14, provide as follows:

"SECTION 11. In order to educate various parties regarding the provisions contained in this act, the following notifications must be made:

"(1) The State Election Commission must notify each county election commission of the provisions of this act.

"(2) The State Election Commission must post the provisions of this act on its website.

"(3) Each state party executive committee must notify their respective county executive parties of the provisions of this act."

"SECTION 14. This act takes effect upon preclearance approval by the United States Department of Justice or approval by a declaratory judgment issued by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, whichever occurs first."

The amendment by 2013 Act No. 61 became effective June 25, 2013, see South Carolina Libertarian Party v. South Carolina State Election Com'n, 407 S.C. 612, 757 S.E.2d 707 (2014).

Effect of Amendment

The 1977 amendment substantially revised the second sentence of this section.

The 1988 amendment deleted language relating to entries for nomination in party primary for a statewide, congressional, or district office which includes more than one county, State Senator, House of Representatives, a county wide or less than county wide office, and also deleted language relating to the death or withdrawal of a candidate.

The 1992 amendment provided for primary elections to be conducted by State and county election commissions, and added the second, third, and fourth sentences, relative to certification of names and filing fees.

The 1994 amendment, at the beginning of the third sentence, substituted "The filing fees for all candidates filing to run" for "The filing fees for candidates whose names are on ballots to be voted on".

The 1996 amendment revised this section to provide April ninth as the date for certification of names of candidates.

The 2000 amendment substituted "Written certification" for "Certification" and added "Saturday or" in the second sentence, added the third sentence relating to verification of candidates' qualifications, and substituted "primary elections" for "the primaries" in the fourth sentence.

The 2013 amendment substituted "April fifth, or if April fifth" for "April ninth, or if April ninth" in the second sentence, substituted "A political party must not certify" for "Political parties must not accept the filing of" in the fifth sentence, and substituted "has filed" for "desires to file" in the fifth sentence.