Be It Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina s3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A BILL 10 11 TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 12 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 71325 SO AS TO ESTABLISH 13 EARLY VOTING PROCEDURES; BY ADDING SECTION 14 713200 SO AS TO PROVIDE UNIFORM DATES FOR 15 ELECTION EVENTS; BY ADDING SECTION 7131115 SO AS 16 TO REQUIRE A BALLOT TO INDICATE A VOTE CAST FOR 17 A SINGLE CANDIDATE IN ORDER TO BE CERTIFIED AS 18 PART OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF VOTES CAST; TO 19 AMEND SECTION 7320, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 20 DUTIES OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE STATE 21 ELECTION COMMISSION, SO AS TO FURTHER DEFINE HIS 22 DUTIES; TO AMEND SECTION 71110, AS AMENDED, 23 RELATING TO METHODS OF NOMINATING CANDIDATES, 24 SO AS TO PROHIBIT A CANDIDATE FROM FILING MORE 25 THAN ONE STATEMENT OF INTENTION OF CANDIDACY 26 FOR A SINGLE ELECTION, AND TO PROHIBIT A 27 CANDIDATE FROM BEING NOMINATED BY MORE THAN 28 ONE POLITICAL PARTY FOR A SINGLE OFFICE IN AN 29 ELECTION; TO AMEND SECTION 713320, AS AMENDED, 30 RELATING TO BALLOTS AND SPECIFICATIONS, SO AS TO 31 PROHIBIT A CANDIDATE’S NAME FROM APPEARING ON 32 THE BALLOT MORE THAN ONCE; TO AMEND SECTION 33 713330, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO THE BALLOT FORM 34 AND INSTRUCTIONS, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION 35 THAT PROVIDES FOR STRAIGHTPARTYTICKET VOTING 36 ON GENERAL ELECTION BALLOTS; TO AMEND SECTION 37 7131340, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS 38 FOR VOTE RECORDERS, SO AS TO DELETE THE 39 PROVISION THAT PROVIDES FOR 40 STRAIGHTPARTYTICKET VOTING; TO AMEND SECTION 41 715320, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO PERSONS 42 QUALIFIED TO VOTE BY ABSENTEE BALLOT, SO AS TO

[3176] 1 1 INCLUDE VOTING DURING THE EARLY VOTING PERIOD; 2 TO AMEND SECTION 715360, AS AMENDED, RELATING 3 TO THE FURNISHING OF BALLOTS AND ENVELOPES, SO 4 AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT PROVIDES FOR 5 STRAIGHTPARTYTICKET VOTING; TO AMEND SECTION 6 715365, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO BALLOTS AND 7 INSTRUCTIONS FURNISHED BY COUNTY BOARDS OF 8 REGISTRATION, SO AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT 9 PROVIDES FOR STRAIGHTPARTYTICKET VOTING; TO 10 AMEND SECTION 715370, AS AMENDED, RELATING TO 11 THE FURNISHING OF BALLOTS AND ENVELOPES AND 12 THE DUTIES OF THE COUNTY REGISTRATION BOARD, SO 13 AS TO DELETE THE PROVISION THAT PROVIDES FOR 14 STRAIGHTPARTYTICKET VOTING; AND TO REPEAL 15 SECTION 715470 RELATING TO ABSENTEE BALLOTS 16 OTHER THAN PAPER BALLOTS. 17 18 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South 19 Carolina: 20 21 SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 7 of the 1976 Code is 22 amended by adding: 23 24 “Section 71325. (A) Notwithstanding the provisions of this 25 chapter or Chapter 5 of this title, the authority charged by law with 26 conducting an election shall establish a procedure by which a 27 qualified elector may cast his ballot, without excuse, during an 28 early voting period for all elections. The qualified elector may cast 29 a ballot during an early voting period pursuant to this section. 30 (B) An early voting center must be established and maintained 31 to ensure that voters may cast only one ballot. 32 (C) A qualified elector may cast his ballot at an early voting 33 center in the county in which he resides. 34 (D) Each county board of registration and elections must 35 establish one early voting center. The county board of registration 36 and elections will determine the location of the early voting center 37 that must be located in a public building within the county seat. 38 Each early voting center must be supervised by election 39 commission employees. 40 (E) The early voting period begins ten days before an election 41 and ends three days prior to the election, exclusive of Sundays. 42 (F) The county board of registration and elections shall 43 determine the hours of operation for the early voting center;

[3176] 2 1 however, the early voting center must be open for two Saturdays 2 within the early voting period for statewide primaries and general 3 elections, and the center must be open a minimum of five hours 4 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. each day it is open 5 for voting. The early voting center must close at 5:00 p.m. on the 6 final day of early voting, the Friday immediately preceding 7 election day. 8 (G) A sign must be posted prominently in the early voting 9 center and shall have printed on it: 10 ‘VOTING MORE THAN ONCE IS A MISDEMEANOR AND, 11 UPON CONVICTION, A PERSON MUST BE FINED IN THE 12 DISCRETION OF THE COURT OR IMPRISONED NOT MORE 13 THAN THREE YEARS’.” 14 15 SECTION 2. Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 7 of the 1976 Code is 16 amended by adding: 17 18 “Section 713200. (A) An entity authorized by law to conduct 19 an election shall conduct this event, at which qualified electors are 20 allowed to cast a ballot, on one of four dates as provided in 21 subsection (B). 22 (B) The dates on which an election event may be held are: 23 (1) the third Tuesday in March; 24 (2) the third Tuesday in June; 25 (3) the third Tuesday in September; or 26 (4) the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. 27 (C) Notwithstanding another provision of law, if an entity is 28 required to conduct an election event, it must be conducted on one 29 of the four dates established in subsection (B) after and nearest to 30 the date established by another provision of law. 31 (D) A person having been elected and currently serving a term 32 in office that has an election date other than one of those dates 33 listed in subsection (B) must have his term of office extended to 34 allow for an election to occur nearest the date provided by 35 subsection (B). 36 (E) The provisions of this section do not apply to amendments 37 proposed to the Constitution of this State or the United States 38 Constitution.” 39 40 SECTION 3. Article 11, Chapter 13, Title 7 of the 1976 Code is 41 amended by adding: 42

[3176] 3 1 “Section 7131115. (A) In order to be certified as part of the 2 total number of votes cast, a ballot must indicate a vote cast for a 3 single candidate. A vote, with the exception of a vote for electors 4 for President of the United States and Vice President of the United 5 States pursuant to Section 7131320, may not be cast for a political 6 party. 7 (B) A ballot that does not contain an individual vote for a 8 single candidate for a single office, whether indicated on the ballot 9 or as a write in, must be considered improperly marked as to that 10 office only.” 11 12 SECTION 4. Section 7320(C) of the 1976 Code, as last amended 13 by Act 265 of 2012, is further amended by adding: 14 15 “(14) enter into the master file a separate designation each for 16 voters casting absentee ballots and early ballots in a general 17 election.” 18 19 SECTION 5. Section 71110 of the 1976 Code is amended to read: 20 21 “Section 71110. (A) Nominations for candidates for the offices 22 to be voted on in a general or special election may be by political 23 party primary, by political party convention, or by petition;. 24 provided, no A person who was defeated as a candidate for 25 nomination to an office in a party primary or party convention 26 shall may not have his name placed on the ballot for the ensuing 27 general or special election, except that this proviso shall does not 28 prevent a defeated candidate from later becoming his party’s 29 nominee for that office in that election if the candidate first 30 selected as the party’s nominee dies, resigns, is disqualified, or 31 otherwise ceases to become the party’s nominee for such the office 32 before the election is held. 33 (B) A candidate may not file more than one statement of 34 intention of candidacy for a single election. 35 (C) A candidate may not be nominated by more than one 36 political party for a single office for the same election.” 37 38 SECTION 6. Section 713320(D) of the 1976 Code is amended to 39 read: 40 41 “(D) The names of candidates offering for any other another 42 office shall must be placed in the proper place on the appropriate 43 ballot, stating whether it is a state, congressional, legislative,

[3176] 4 1 county, or other office. A candidate’s name may not appear on the 2 ballot more than once for any single office for the same election.” 3 4 SECTION 7. Section 713330 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 5 by Act 236 of 2000, is further amended to read: 6 7 “Section 713330. The arrangement of general election ballots 8 containing the names of candidates for office must conform as 9 nearly as possible to the following plan, with a column or columns 10 added in case of nomination by petition and a blank column added 11 for writein votes, and must contain the specified instructions there 12 set forth and no other: 13 GENERAL ELECTION OFFICIAL BALLOT 14 No. ______COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA 15 November ___, _____ 16 ______17 Initials of Issuing Officer 18 OFFICIAL BALLOT 19 GENERAL ELECTION 20 ______County, South Carolina 21 November ___, _____ 22 Precinct ______23 INSTRUCTIONSTo vote a straight party ticket, make a cross 24 (X) in the circle (O) under the name of your party. Nothing further 25 need or should be done. To vote, a mixed ticket, or in other words 26 for candidates of different parties or petition candidates, omit 27 making a cross (X) mark in the party circle at the top and make a 28 cross (X) in the voting square [ ] opposite the name of each 29 candidate on the ballot for whom you wish to vote. Only those 30 candidates for whom the voting square is marked shall receive a 31 vote. If you wish to vote for a candidate not on any ticket, write or 32 place the name of suchthat candidate on your ticket opposite the 33 name of the office. Before leaving the booth, fold the ballot so 34 that the initials of the manager may be seen on the outside of the 35 ballot. 36 37 Nomination by 38 Name of Party Name of Party Petition 39 Names of Office 0 0 40 41 STATE Governor Governor Governor 42 Governor [ ] Name of [ ] Name of [ ] Name of 43 Candidate Candidate Candidate

[3176] 5 1 2 Lieutenant Lieut. Governor Lieut. Governor Lieut. Governor 3 Governor [ ] Name of [ ] Name of [ ] Name of 4 Candidate Candidate Candidate 5 6 Secretary of Sec. of State Sec. of State Sec. of State 7 State [ ] Name of [ ] Name of [ ] Name of 8 Candidate Candidate Candidate 9 10 CONGRES U.S. Senator U.S. Senator U.S. Senator 11 SIONAL [ ] Name of [ ] Name of [ ] Name of 12 Senator Candidate Candidate Candidate 13 14 RepresentativeU.S. Repre U.S. Repre U.S. Repre 15 in Congress sentative sentative sentative 16 [ ] Name of [ ] Name of [ ] Name of 17 District Candidate Candidate Candidate ” 18 19 SECTION 8. Section 7131340 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 20 by Act 223 of 2006, is further amended to read: 21 22 “Section 7131340. A vote recorder or optical scan voting device 23 must not be adopted or used unless it: 24 (a) provides facilities for voting for the candidates as may be 25 nominated and upon the questions as may be submitted; 26 (b) permits each elector, at other than primaries, to vote a 27 straight party or body ticket, in one operation; and, in one 28 operation, to vote for all the candidates of one party or body for 29 every office to be voted for, except those offices as to which the 30 elector votes for individual candidates; 31 (c) permits each elector, at other than primaries, to vote a ticket 32 selected from the nominees of any and all parties or bodies, from 33 independent nominations, and from persons not in nomination; 34 (d)(c) permits each elector to vote, at any election, for any 35 person and for any office for whom and for which the elector is 36 lawfully entitled to vote, whether or not the name of the person or 37 persons appears upon a ballot label as a candidate for election, and 38 to vote for as many persons for an office as the elector is entitled to 39 vote for, and to vote for or against any question upon which the 40 elector is entitled to vote; 41 (e)(d) precludes, when used in conjunction with a tabulating 42 machine, the counting of votes for any candidate, or upon any 43 question, for whom or upon which an elector is not entitled to vote,

[3176] 6 1 and precludes the counting of votes for more persons for any office 2 than the elector is entitled to vote for or for fewer than the elector 3 is required to vote for, and precludes the counting of votes for any 4 candidate for the same office or upon any question more than 5 once; 6 (f)(e) permits voting in absolute secrecy, so that a person shall 7 not see or know for whom any other elector has voted or is voting, 8 except an elector whom the person has assisted or is assisting in 9 voting, as prescribed by law; 10 (g)(f) is constructed of material of good quality, in a neat and 11 workmanlike manner; 12 (h)(g) records, when properly operated, correctly and 13 accurately every vote cast; 14 (i)(h) is constructed so that an elector may readily learn the 15 method of operating it; 16 (j)(i)is safely transportable; and 17 (k)(j) if approved after July 1, 1999, or if an upgrade in 18 software, hardware, or firmware is submitted for approval as 19 required by Section 7131330(C), is able to electronically transmit 20 vote totals for all elections to the State Election Commission in a 21 format and time frame specified by the commission.” 22 23 SECTION 9. Section 715320 of the 1976 Code, as last amended 24 by Act 43 of 2011, is further amended to read: 25 26 “Section 715320. (A) A qualified elector in any of the 27 following categories must be permitted to vote by absentee ballot 28 in all elections when he is absent from his county of residence on 29 election day during the hours the polls are open, to an extent that it 30 prevents him from voting in person: 31 (1) students, their spouses, and dependents residing with 32 them; 33 (2) members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of 34 the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with 35 them; 36 (3) persons serving with the American Red Cross or with the 37 United Service Organizations (USO) who are attached to and 38 serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, their spouses, 39 and dependents residing with them; 40 (4) governmental employees, their spouses, and dependents 41 residing with them; 42 (5) persons on vacation (who by virtue of vacation plans will 43 be absent from their county of residence on election day); or

[3176] 7 1 (6) overseas citizens. 2 (B) A qualified elector in any of the following categories must 3 be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in all elections, whether or 4 not he is absent from his county of residence on election day: 5 (1) physically disabled persons; 6 (2) persons whose employment obligations require that they 7 be at their place of employment during the hours that the polls are 8 open and present written certification of that obligation to the 9 county registration board; 10 (3) certified poll watchers, poll managers, county voter 11 registration board members and staff, county and state election 12 commission members and staff working on election day; 13 (4) persons attending sick or physically disabled persons; 14 (5) persons admitted to hospitals as emergency patients on 15 the day of an election or within a fourday period before the 16 election; 17 (6) persons with a death or funeral in the family within a 18 threeday period before the election; 19 (7) persons who will be serving as jurors in a state or federal 20 court on election day; 21 (8) persons sixtyfive years of age or older; or 22 (9) persons confined to a jail or pretrial facility pending 23 disposition of arrest or trial. 24 (A) A qualified elector may vote during the early voting period 25 pursuant to Section 71325. 26 (B) A qualified elector in any of the following categories must 27 be permitted to vote by absentee ballot in all elections: 28 (1) students, their spouses, and dependents residing with 29 them; 30 (2) members of the Armed Forces and Merchant Marines of 31 the United States, their spouses, and dependents residing with 32 them; 33 (3) persons serving with the American Red Cross or with the 34 United Service Organization (USO) who are attached to and 35 serving with the Armed Forces of the United States, their spouses, 36 and dependents residing with them; 37 (4) physically disabled persons who are, pursuant to 38 certification by a physician, unable to vote in person because of 39 their physical disability at either a polling place or early voting 40 center; 41 (5) overseas citizens; 42 (6) persons seventytwo years of age or older; or

[3176] 8 1 (7) persons confined to a jail or pretrial facility pending 2 disposition of arrest or trial.” 3 4 SECTION 10. Section 715360 of the 1976 Code, as last 5 amended by Act 434 of 1996, is further amended to read: 6 7 “Section 715360. The board of registration of each county 8 must be furnished by the commissioners of election of the county 9 or the county committee for each political party holding a primary, 10 a sufficient number of ballots and envelopes not to exceed fifteen 11 percent of the number of registered voters in that county to enable 12 the board of registration to deliver these materials to qualified 13 electors who desire to vote by absentee ballot. If an absentee 14 ballot is not available at the time the voter requests it, the board of 15 registration must provide a blank ballot to allow the voter to write 16 in his: (1) selections of candidates; (2) selection of party, if he 17 wishes to vote a straight party ticket; and (3) support or opposition 18 of any ballot measure.” 19 20 SECTION 11. Section 715365 of the 1976 Code, as last 21 amended by Act 434 of 1996, is further amended to read: 22 23 “Section 715365. The board of registration of each county 24 must be furnished by the municipal election commission of each 25 municipality holding an election or the executive committee of a 26 municipal party holding a primary, a sufficient number of ballots, 27 envelopes, and instructions to the absentee voter not to exceed 28 fifteen percent of the number of registered voters in the 29 municipality and sufficient postage to enable the board of 30 registration to deliver materials to qualified electors desiring to 31 vote by absentee ballot. The envelope required by item (4) of 32 Section 715370 must bear the return address of the county board of 33 registration. If an absentee ballot is not available at the time the 34 voter requests it, the board of registration must provide a blank 35 ballot to allow the voter to write in his: (1) selections of 36 candidates; (2) selection of party, if he wishes to vote a straight 37 party ticket; and (3) support or opposition of any ballot measure.” 38 39 SECTION 12. The last paragraph of Section 715370 of the 1976 40 Code, as last amended by Act 434 of 1996, is further amended to 41 read: 42

[3176] 9 1 “If absentee ballots are not available at the time the voter 2 requests one, the board of registration must provide a blank ballot 3 to allow the voter to write in his: (1) selections of candidates; (2) 4 selection of party, if he wishes to vote straight party ticket; and (3) 5 support or opposition of any ballot measure.” 6 7 SECTION 13. Section 715470 of the 1976 Code is repealed. 8 9 SECTION 14. This act takes effect upon approval by the 10 Governor. 11 XX 12

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