Election Management

Election Management

Position: 

LWVSC supports ensuring that elections result in fair and transparent outcomes by:

1. Giving rule-making authority to the State Election Commission to standardize election procedures statewide.

2. Retain the State Election Commission as an independent non-partisan agency.

3. Combining local voter registration boards and election commissions.

4. Providing clear and understandable statement of ballot issues.

5. Providing for the proper conduct of elections through

a. Instituting authority to poll watch in elections for a ballot issue.
b. Mandatory training and adequate remuneration for poll workers.
c. Mandatory wearing of uniform identifying badges by all poll workers.
d. Mandatory uniform identification of polling places.
 
6. Moving the primary date closer to the date of the general election.
 

7. Using the primary method of nomination for all certified state, county and national candidates with state and counties administering and bearing cost of all such primaries.

8. Extend the 50%-plus 1 rule to all state and local primaries and general elections for single seats.

9. Adopting election systems that ensure better proportional representation of the varied segments of our voting population, within South Carolina, by city, county or statewide, as appropriate. Within this goal we will seek: to achieve better election and/or influence for minorities and women in proportion to their numbers in the population, to reduce election costs in part by eliminating costly runoff elections, to lessen polarization among segments of the population, increase voter turnout and provide more opportunity for third party candidates.

10. Encouraging and supporting local communities to develop their own election system for local elections, after careful examination of the demography of its community. Systems that may be considered include Instant Runoff Voting (IRV), Limited Voting, Cumulative Voting, more use of at-large seats, and others. An explanation of the method used must be provided.

11. Implementing automated systems of voting from a statewide list approved by the S.C. State Elections Commission to standardize voting procedures, lessen voter confusion, increase the accuracy of the count, and ensure that all provisional ballots cast by voters lacking Help America Vote Act-required ID are counted by using any of the HAVA provisos.

12. Protecting the integrity of the electoral process in the way elections are conducted by:

a. Purchasing only voting systems that include a paper ballot. Acceptable machines must ensure the protection of privacy, allow the voter to verify his/her vote, and provide a reliable basis for a recount if required.
b. Mandatory random testing of voting systems during every election.
 

13. Independently verifying the results of all federal elections and elections of statewide officials before results are certified.

14. Continuing the practice of open primaries in which any registered voter may participate in the primary of either party. 

Related national positions:  Representative government (Voting rights, election process)

Background/Action:

  • A study of alternative election systems was passed at the LWVSC 2003 convention and Section 11 was adopted by the state board at its March 2005 meeting.
  • In 2007, with the completion of a two-year study of electronic voting in SC, Section 9  was amended and Section 12 was added.
  • In 2015 Section 2 was amended to refer to an “independent” rather than a “bipartisan” commission.
  • In 2017 the Electoral Democracy section was reorganized to group positions under appropriate subheads and Section 18 was clarified. Section 10 was added to support rules for classifying voters as inactive.
  • In 2019, the convention approved a concurrence with a Florida League position supporting open primaries.
  • Items 7-15 were added to Voter Registration/Voter Access section at the 2021 state convention.  These items are included in the National League’s campaign to increase voter access to the polls.

Related Studies/Campaigns: