Democracy Is Dead

[Shagman]

surprised this topic hasn't come up here yet ...

The State Supreme Court ruled that 180 candidates for office (about 20% of the total), across the state, in both parties, are not eligible to run in the June primaries. The reason is because the rules for filing are so complicated that nobody is sure when, where, or how to file. Most of these ineligible candidates failed to file their economic interest statements, which in some cases was nothing more than the candidate's name and address. It doesn't help that state law is sometimes contradictory in these matters.

Luckily the incumbents don't have to file new economic interest statements. And they have no obligation to take any action whatsoever that will help candidates who could potentially unseat them. Even though they created the problem in the first place.

What with the Voter ID law and the usual crop of dirty tricks, democracy has been on life support in South Carolina. Now it's dead. Even if you want to run, you can't get on the ballot.

[LASlibinSC]

1. Convoluted filing requirements,

voter suppression laws, voting against the Violence Against Women Act, and recently the okay from Obama adm. to ban teaching contraception methods in schools in favor of discussing methods young girls can use to handle unwanted sexual situations . I love this state.,people and culture. Lately though it's so depressing to watch politicians take the lowest possible path to only further their interests

[Shagman]

2. update

In a particularly embarrassing episode, Joe Wilson's wife confronted Jake Knotts outside his office. If I tried that, I don't think the security people would let me through the way they did her.

She wanted to complain about how her sister, who was running for office, got caught in the Great Candidate Purge. Knotts tried to brush her off. They went into his office, and she emerged satisfied.

Minutes later, Knotts went back to the Judiciary Committee and killed a bill that would allow the dropped candidates to run. Katrina Shealy, one of those candidates, was running against Knotts and had given him a run for his money last time around. Now she's out. Can you say "conflict of interest"?

Meanwhile, another candidate sued in federal court to have the primaries delayed. As it turned out, she was eligible to run, so the three-judge panel decided her suit had no merit--except for one thing. They could have delayed the primary while this whole mess got straightened out, which would mean that there wouldn't be enough time for absentee military ballots to come in. But wait, that provision only applies in federal elections, and we're talking about state elections. Case closed.

Also meanwhile, Shealy tried to have Knotts removed from the ballot based on an 1880 clause in the state constitution. In South Carolina it's illegal to participate in a duel or even to challenge someone to a duel. In December 2010 Knotts did just that. The state Republican Party turned down the request.

Only in South Carolina.

[Shagman]

3. wouldn't you know it

After an impassioned, personal plea from the governor, the state GOP has reinstated Shealy as a candidate. Left out of the article was that Haley and Knotts have a history of, let's call it not playing well together. She reportedly said, "I want to be proud of my state." Making sure there's someone to challenge Knotts in the primary, I'm sure, is only a bonus.

Also in today's State newspaper, Walter Edgar is retiring as head of the Institute of Southern Studies. According to the story, he's gotten tired of people asking whether slavery really did cause the Civil War. "Just look at the Articles of Secession," he'll say, "it's full of talk about slavery." Apparently he thinks politicians were different then, that they weren't professional liars.

Breaking News: the Elections Commission says, "not so fast." The party doesn't get to overrule the Supreme Court, so Shealy, who was on the ballot, then off, then on again, is now off again.

[Shagman]

4. another update

This time in Florence County. The State doesn't seem to have anything on this story.

From what I gather, the Republicans in Florence County got the same bulletin as everyone else--the Supreme Court ruling about filing papers (see above). Only they decided to keep their candidates on the ballot. The Democrats there are suing. The argument, apparently, is that since these candidates are running unopposed, they're practically in office anyway ... which means they don't have to file the papers because they're already incumbents. Huh?