Bill > H4520

This bill proposes significant changes to South Carolina's voter registration and primary election processes by requiring party affiliation during voter registration and implementing closed primaries. Under the new law, voters would be required to select a party affiliation when registering to vote, and they would be limited to changing their party affiliation only once per year, with any change needing to be submitted at least 60 days before a primary election. The bill mandates that primary elections become "closed primaries," meaning that only voters registered with a specific political party can vote in that party's primary election. For example, only registered Republicans could vote in the Republican primary, and only registered Democrats could vote in the Democratic primary. The State Election Commission would be responsible for developing and implementing procedures to maintain accurate records of party affiliations and changes. The bill would take effect immediately upon the Governor's approval, fundamentally altering the state's current open primary system by restricting voter participation in party-specific elections to only those registered with that particular party.