Current Status Introducing Body:Senate Bill Number:879 Primary Sponsor:Mescher Committee Number:25 Type of Legislation:GB Subject:County election commissioners Residing Body:House Current Committee:Judiciary Computer Document Number:WWW/30186DW.94 Introduced Date:19940111 Date of Last Amendment:19940322 Last History Body:House Last History Date:19940406 Last History Type:Introduced, read first time, referred to Committee Scope of Legislation:Statewide All Sponsors:Mescher Reese Type of Legislation:General Bill
Bill Body Date Action Description CMN Leg Involved
____ ______ ____________ ______________________________ ___ ____________
879 House 19940406 Introduced, read first time, 25
referred to Committee
879 Senate 19940405 Read third time, sent to House
879 Senate 19940322 Amended, read second time,
ordered to third reading with
notice of general amendments
879 Senate 19940317 Recalled from Committee, 11
placed on Calendar
879 Senate 19940111 Introduced, read first time, 11
referred to Committee
879 Senate 19931025 Prefiled, referred to 11
Committee
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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
March 22, 1994
S. 879
S. Printed 3/22/94--S.
Read the first time January 11, 1994.
TO AMEND SECTION 7-13-70, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE APPOINTMENT OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF ELECTIONS, SO AS TO DELETE PROVISIONS REQUIRING THE STATE ELECTION COMMISSION TO VERIFY THE APPOINTEES AS REPRESENTING CERTAIN POLITICAL PARTIES AND PROVIDE A PROCEDURE FOR THE VERIFICATION TO BE MADE TO THE COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION BY THE COUNTY POLITICAL PARTY.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 7-13-70 of the 1976 Code, as last amended by Act 253 of 1992, is further amended to read:
"Section 7-13-70. For the purpose of carrying on general or special elections provided for in Section 7-13-10, the Governor, at least ninety days before the election, shall appoint for each county not less than three nor more than five commissioners of election upon the recommendation of the senatorial delegation and at least half of the members of the House of Representatives from the respective counties. The Governor shall notify the State Election Commission in writing of the appointments. The State Election Commission shall verify that at At least one of the appointees must represents represent the largest political party and one must represents represent the second largest political party as determined by the composition of that county's delegation in the General Assembly or the makeup of the General Assembly as a whole if the county's delegation is composed of only one party's members. These Senators and members of the House must submit the proposed names for appointment to the secretaries of the appropriate political parties for written verification of party affiliation. Once the written verification is received, the names may then be forwarded to the Governor who must notify the State Election Commission in writing of the appointments. The commissioners' shall continue in office until their successors are appointed and qualified. For the general election held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in each even-numbered year, the commissioners of election shall appoint three managers of election for each polling place in the county for which they must respectively be appointed for each five hundred electors, or portion of each five hundred electors, registered to vote at the polling place. For primary elections held on the second Tuesday in June of each general election year, the commissioners of election shall appoint three managers of election for each polling place in the county for which they must respectively be appointed for the first five hundred electors registered to vote in each precinct in the county, and may appoint three additional managers for each five hundred electors registered to vote in the precinct above the first five hundred electors, or portion thereof of them. The commissioners also shall also appoint from among the managers a clerk for each polling place in the county, and none of the officers may be removed from office except for incompetence or misconduct. For all other primaries, special, or municipal elections, the authority charged by law with conducting the primaries, special, or municipal elections shall appoint three managers of election for the first five hundred electors registered to vote in each precinct in the county, municipality, or other election district and one additional manager for each five hundred electors registered to vote in the precinct above the first five hundred electors. The authority responsible by law for conducting the election also shall also appoint from among the managers a clerk for each polling place in a primary, special, or municipal election. Forty-five days before a prior to any primary, except municipal primaries, each political party holding a primary may submit to the county election commission a list of prospective managers for each precinct. The county election commission must appoint at least one manager for each precinct from the list of names submitted by each political party holding a primary. However, the county election commission may refuse to appoint any prospective manager for good cause. No person may be appointed as a manager in a primary who has not completed a training program concerning his duties and responsibilities as a poll manager and who has not received certification of having completed the training program. The training program and the issuance of certification must be carried out by the county election commission. After their appointment, the commissioners, managers, and clerks shall take and subscribe, before any officer authorized to administer oaths, the following oath of office prescribed by Section 26 of Article III of the Constitution: `I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of this State, to exercise the duties of the office to which I have been appointed, and that I will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties thereof, and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of this State and of the United States. So help me God.' It must be immediately filed immediately in the office of the clerk of court of common pleas of the county in which the commissioners, managers, and clerks are appointed, or, if there is no clerk of court, in the office Office of the Secretary of State. Before opening the polls, the managers of election shall take and subscribe the oath provided for in Section 7-13-100. Upon the completion of the canvassing of votes, this oath must be filed with the commissioners of election along with the ballots from that election precinct."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.