COLOMBIA – Newly out of a successful 2020 campaign, Republicans from the South Carolina State House are eyeing changes in the state’s electoral agency that could give their party more influence in the process in the future.
A fast-moving bill sponsored by House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, would give an expanded State Election Commission more power to standardize the electoral process and ensure that all 46 counties have uniform practices.
But it was the changes in Lucas’s bill, H.3444, after it was first introduced, that significantly tipped the altered party’s party balance, attracting the ire of Democrats, that saw it as a transparent takeover.
Taken together, the bill in its most recent form would effectively give Republicans the opportunity to build a 6-3 party advantage in the commission, while giving that agency more power to deal with what happens at the polls.
“This is not fair,” said state deputy Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg. “This is blatantly obvious.”
The Chamber’s judiciary committee finally voted 14-7 in favor of the bill, sending it to the House floor.
Lucas’s initial project sought to expand the size of the state electoral commission from five to eight, dividing the number of members equally between the two main political parties.
But an amendment approved by the subcommittee added a ninth member and significantly changed the party’s party composition, raising it from four to four to up to six to three in favor of the Republicans.
Initially, the governor was able to choose four of the eight members, and he was only able to choose two from his own party. But the amendment raised the total number of nominees for the governor to five, while raising the maximum of his own party to four.
Republicans have controlled the governor’s office since 2003 and have not lost a state election to any office since 2006.
The mayor and the president of the Senate would combine to nominate four members of the commission, but would be required to accept the minority party’s recommendation in their chambers for at least two of them.
State Representative Seth Rose, D-Columbia, sought to change the bill back to its original form or at least decrease the number of committee members the governor could choose from his own political party from four in five to three in five .
But state deputy Jay Jordan, R-Florence, opposed Rose’s effort, saying the project had gone through a process in consultation with the offices of the president and the governor.
“While everyone has the right to participate in the process and input their opinion, it didn’t come out of the blue,” said Jordan.
This drew protests from Bamberg, who said it would “stack the cards” in favor of Republicans and undermine public confidence in the elections.
“Everyone must have a voice,” said Bamberg. “There is supposed to be a perception that the state election commission is going to make non-biased and politically motivated decisions to protect the institution of public elections in this state.”
Some of the top Republicans questioned the current SC Election Commission last year after Executive Director Marci Andino sent lawmakers a letter recommending changes to the process due to the coronavirus pandemic, including expanding access to absentee voting.
Some of Andino’s suggestions, such as removing the requirement to sign a witness on absentee ballots, were more supported by Democrats, who unsuccessfully took Republican leaders to court to try to force this change.
Follow Jamie Lovegrove on Twitter @jslovegrove.