Politics & Government
S.C. Federal Judge to Hear Lawsuit in Ballot Controversy
A judge is expected to discuss the lawsuit Thursday regarding nearly 200 candidates whose names have been removed from ballots for the state's June 12 primary.
A hearing will be held Thursday in Columbia to discuss a lawsuit that stripped nearly 200 candidates off the ballots for the state's June 12 primary.
The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Cameron Currie is considering the matter at 3 p.m.
On Wednesday, the Senate rejected a proposal that would have reinstated the candidates if they filed statements of economic interest by April 15, according to The State newspaper. That would have restored almost all the ousted candidates, state Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, told the paper.
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On Friday, state Senate candidate Amanda Somers filed a lawsuit that alleges that the S.C. Election Commission, among other things, had violated the Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, and that that the state's high court's ruling would violate the federal Voting Rights Act, if followed, by kicking candidates off of their ballots as the result of litigation to which they were never legally named a party to.
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