State Law and South Carolina Republican Party Rules on the Presidential Preference Primary

SC Code of Laws
http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t07c011.htm

SECTION 7-11-20. Conduct of party conventions or party primary elections generally; presidential preference primaries.

(A) Except as provided in subsection (B), party conventions or party primary elections held by political parties certified as such by the State Election Commission pursuant to the provisions of this title to nominate candidates for any of the offices to be filled in a general or special election must be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this title and with party rules not in conflict with the provisions of this title or of the Constitution and laws of this State or of the United States.

(B)(1) Except as provided in item (2), a certified political party wishing to hold a presidential preference primary election may do so in accordance with the provisions of this title and party rules. However, notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the state committee of the party shall set the date and the hours that the polls will be open for the presidential primary election and the filing requirements. If a party holds a presidential preference primary election on a Saturday, an absentee ballot must be provided to a person who signs an affirmation stating that for religious reasons he does not wish to take part in the electoral process on a Saturday.

(2) For the 2008 election cycle, if the state committee of a certified political party which received at least five percent of the popular vote in South Carolina for the party's candidate for President of the United States decides to hold a presidential preference primary election, the State Election Commission must conduct the presidential preference primary in accordance with the provisions of this title and party rules provided that a registered elector may cast a ballot in only one presidential preference primary. However, notwithstanding any other provision of this title, (a) the State Election Commission and the authorities responsible for conducting the elections in each county shall provide for cost-effective measures in conducting the presidential preference primaries including, but not limited to, combining polling places, while ensuring that voters have adequate notice and access to the polling places; and (b) the state committee of the party shall set the date and the filing requirements, including a certification fee. Political parties must verify the qualifications of candidates prior to certifying to the State Election Commission the names of candidates to be placed on primary ballots. The written certification required by this section must contain a statement that each certified candidate meets, or will meet by the time of the general election, or as otherwise required by law, the qualifications in the United States Constitution, statutory law, and party rules to participate in the presidential preference primary for which he has filed. Political parties must not certify any candidate who does not or will not by the time of the general election meet the qualifications in the United States Constitution, statutory law, and party rules for the presidential preference primary for which the candidate desires to file, and such candidate's name must not be placed on a primary ballot. Political parties may charge a certification fee to persons seeking to be candidates in the presidential preference primary for the political party. A filing fee not to exceed twenty thousand dollars, as determined by the State Election Commission, for each candidate certified by a political party must be transmitted by the respective political party to the State Election Commission and must be used for conducting the presidential preference primaries.

(3) The political party shall give written notice to the State Election Commission of the date set for the party's presidential preference primary no later than ninety days before the date of the primary.

(4) Nothing in this section prevents a political party from conducting a presidential preference primary for the 2008 election cycle pursuant to the provisions of Section 7-11-25. 


ed. note.  Note the references to the 2008 election cycle.  On June 27, 2011 Attorney General Alan Wilson issued an opinion [PDF] on the applicability of this section of the code to the 2012 presidential preference primary and "the authority of the State Election Commission to enter into a contract with the political parties for the purpose of conducting the 2012 Presidential Preference Primaries."


SCGOP Rule 11(b)

(b) The Presidential Preference Primary

(1) Unless decided otherwise by the state party convention within two (2) years prior to each presidential election year, the South Carolina Republican Party shall conduct a statewide presidential preference primary on a date within two weeks after the New Hampshire Republican Primary or earlier if necessary to preserve South Carolina's "First in the South" status.  Notwithstanding this provision, the State Chairman and the State Executive Committee have the right to set the primary date.



(2) In the event that the convention decides not to hold a primary, and circumstances surrounding the presidential election shall have substantially changed such that a primary would be deemed advisable, the state executive committee, prior to January 15 of the presidential election year, may override the decision of the convention and reinstate the primary.

(3) If, however, after the closing of the filing period for the presidential preference primary no more than one candidate has qualified, no presidential preference primary shall be held.

(4) Each congressional district delegate from South Carolina to the ensuing Republican National Convention shall be bound during the first ballot at the convention to the presidential candidate who received the greatest number of votes in that particular delegate's home district during the presidential preference primary.

(5) However, if the candidate to which a delegate is bound falls below thirty (30) percent of the vote on the first ballot, that delegate automatically is released before the second ballot.

(6) Each delegate-at-large shall be bound for the first ballot to the candidate who received the largest number of votes statewide in the presidential preference primary.

(7) All other details pertaining to this presidential preference primary shall be the responsibility of the state executive committee.

(c) No person that has voted in the primary or run-off election of another political party, including a presidential preference primary, shall be allowed to cast a ballot in a Republican Primary or run-off for the same office in the same election cycle.