Bill > H3310

This bill amends South Carolina's election laws to establish a closed primary system, where voters can only participate in a partisan primary election or partisan advisory referendum if they are registered members of that specific political party. The legislation requires voters to explicitly choose a party affiliation or register as an independent when registering to vote, with a process for doing so during primary elections before June 1, 2026. County boards of voter registration will be required to inform voters about these new procedures and help capture party affiliation data. Voters will need to sign an affidavit confirming their party membership or independent status before voting in a primary, and they can change their party affiliation up to 30 days before a primary election. Political parties have the option to open their primaries to independent voters if they choose, by providing advance written notice to the State Election Commission. The bill provides a transition period, allowing voters to participate in primaries without signing the required affidavit until May 31, 2026, after which the new closed primary system will be fully implemented. The goal of this legislation is to ensure that primary elections are more closely aligned with party membership and to give political parties more control over their nomination processes.

Justice

https://www.scstatehouse.gov/billsearch.php?billnumbers=3310&session=126&summary=B