| MyLO

All South Carolina Articles

1/18/2025 Update: Constitutional Office and Election Bills in Subcommittee

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2025.

Blog Post

On January 21, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee will consider four bills. S. 35 would propose a constitutional amendment that would delete the Comptroller General from the list of constitutional officers. S.36 would modify provisions for establishing polling places, including numbers of registered electors and notice to electors of persons whose registration is transferred. S.37 addresses municipal elections, following on the last-minute failure in the 2024 session of a bill to standardize dates and reform processes. S.38 would standardize the special election dates, including primaries and runoffs.

Is registration by party coming to S.C. as session opens?

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2025.

Press Mention

The Statehouse Report

Statehouse handicappers say 2025 may be the year that lawmakers require South Carolinians to declare allegiance to one political party or the other when they register to vote, a long-time wishlist item for many GOP legislators. But Lynn Teague, vice president of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of South Carolina, says a switch would not be in the interests of nonpartisan voters. “The League opposes both bills,” Teague said in a Jan. 9 statement. “Although either would be acceptable if all unaffiliated voters could vote in any primary, without further conditions.”

Submitted by South Carolina in January 2025.

Blog Post

Bills have been prefiled and next Tuesday the South Carolina General Assembly will return for the 2025 session. As usual, there are issues and bills that relate to our ability to make democracy work in South Carolina.

Submitted by South Carolina in December 2024.

Blog Post

Our voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts in South Carolina contributed to the highest turnout ever in a presidential election. But important work remains. Now, more than ever, the League of Women Voters needs to—and will—combat threats to democracy and work courageously and persistently to ensure that South Carolina laws and government protect the interests and reflect the diversity of the people of our state. To do so we need to be bigger and bolder. We hope you will continue to stand by our side.

Here’s why all SC voters will see this yes-or-no question on their ballots this election

Submitted by South Carolina in October 2024.

Press Mention

WIS 10 TV

Besides the race for the White House, there is one other question that all of them will be asked at the polls this year, a statewide constitutional referendum. The League opposes this measure. “It is not because we want noncitizens voting,” LynnTeague, LWVSC VP, said. “We lose our inclusion to guarantee that every citizen has a right to vote, unless, of course, they’re disqualified by law.”

SC voters can change the state constitution with their vote

Submitted by South Carolina in October 2024.

Press Mention

News 6 WJBF

The state constitution says “every” citizen of the state or country can vote in elections. The general assembly voted to add a question to the ballot asking if voters want to change the word “every” to “only.” Lynn Teague, LWVSC VP, said the change is redundant and may be harmful to legal citizens.

Submitted by South Carolina in October 2024.

Blog Post

A ballot proposition would alter voting rights in our state constitution—a change from the current wording that says "every" citizen of the United States and of this State, 18 years and older, is entitled to vote to "only" citizens. Multiple laws already require legal citizenship to vote. The League of Women Voters believes that we must not lose that constitutional protection of "every" and oppose this proposition.

The federal government is taking precautions against potential claims of voter fraud, intimidation and violence. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Potterfield will investigate any claims related to this year's election. The public can reach him at (803) 919-3092.

Lawmakers discuss if VC Summer site is still viable, 7 years after project was abandoned

Submitted by South Carolina in October 2024.

Press Mention

News 19 WLTX

South Carolina lawmakers are discussing the viability of the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station construction site, where two nuclear reactors were abandoned in 2017. The project's failure forced ratepayers to foot the $9 billion bill under the Base Load Review Act, which allowed utilities to raise rates for a project ahead of its construction. "It should never happen under the conditions of the previous construction," said Lynn Teague, LWVSC Vice President of Issues and Action.

SC Board mandated review process applied to PragerU resources?

Submitted by South Carolina in October 2024.

Testimony

State Board of Education Regulation 43-70 requires an evaluation process which is overseen by an Instructional Materials Review Panel and includes a thirty-day public review period. Regarding the controversial PragerU materials made available to South Carolina Public Schools, the League of Women Voters encourages adherence to the regulation's inclusive process.

SC voter registration extended to Oct. 14

Submitted by South Carolina in October 2024.

Press Mention

South Carolina voters will have an additional 10 days to register for the Nov. 5 general election after a judge sided with a lawsuit filed by the S.C. Democratic Party over how much the extensive power outages, flooding and damage caused by Hurricane Helene could disrupt voter registration efforts. Three nonpartisan civil rights orgnizations, including the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, had requested an extension in their Oct. 3 letter to South Carolina officials.