Democrats question small election rule change by S.C. House

COLUMBIA - The South Carolina House gave key approval to a bill Wednesday that would require counties across the state to follow the same rules for elections.

Before the 84-36 vote mostly along party lines, representatives agreed to remove part of the bill that would have added four additional members to the commission that oversees elections which would have likely meant Republicans would make up two-thirds of the nine-member board since they are the party in power.

That expansion of the independent State Election Commission, unchanged since its creation more than 50 years ago, was a sticking point, and House members agreed that was a debate for another day instead of bogging down the effort to have the commission set and enforce uniform rules on how votes are cast and absentee ballots counted across South Carolina.

But several African-American lawmakers questioned why any changes needed to be made at all after an election that Republican leaders agreed went off with few problems, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Why now is voting such a problem?" asked Democratic Rep. Michael Rivers of St. Helena Island. "It seems like we are looking for a problem to try to solve."

There have been other bills filed this session to change South Carolina election laws. One proposal would require some proof of ID for voters who cast absentee ballots and the people who sign as witnesses. Another bill would remove running elections from the State Election Commission to the office of the elected Secretary of State, as is done in other states. But bigger changes like that and broader changes in voting laws suggested in other Republican-run states have not been debated in South Carolina.

South Carolina Republicans had a good election in 2020, gaining two seats in the House and three seats in the Senate, giving them their biggest margins in the General Assembly in modern times.

The bill needs a routine vote before it gets sent to the Senate.

Gov. Henry McMaster wrote a letter to lawmakers Monday asking them to pass it. In his letter, he mostly mentioned the need for statewide consistency. Just one sentence mentioned expanding the Election Commission.

Some counties verify voter signatures on absentee ballots, and some don't. And only some give absentee voters a chance to correct their ballots if they don't follow the exact rules, like forgetting to sign it, Republican leaders said.

"We learned that some counties were employing a hodgepodge of different and inconsistent processes. Our state's election laws must be applied fairly and consistently statewide," McMaster wrote.

Republican Rep. Jay Jordan of Florence was joined by Democratic Rep. Russell Ott of St. Matthews to strip the change to the State Election Commission out of the bill.

"I'm sure we will keep discussing what changes to the Election Commission makes sense," Ott said.

Jordan said the goal of the bill was to "take a step to make the good better."

Democratic Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter of Orangeburg said what was really needed is a comprehensive review of the entire election system and likely extra money for county election offices to make sure things are done right.

"How do you make the good better if you don't know what better is?" Cobb-Hunter said.