Doing the candidate limbo (how low can you go?)

Still trying to find some reliable info as to who is, and who is not, a legitimate candidate in next month’s primaries, following this development:

The state Supreme Court Wednesday ordered S.C. political parties to remove up to 100 candidates from their June 12 primary ballots, sending candidates and voters into a tailspin in an election year already fraught with confusion.

Any candidate who did not file a statement of economic interest — listing income, property and other financial information — at the same time they officially filed for office must be removed from the ballot, the court ruled in a unanimous decision. The ruling does not affect incumbents seeking re-election or officeholders seeking another office because they already had economic-interest statements on file.

The deadline to file to run was March 30…

I asked Adam Beam (who wrote that story) today whether he had more info about which candidates were affected. He said, “No. I have an unofficial list of just House candidates. But I’m not 100 percent sure it is accurate.” Then he added, “Election Commission will post a list of qualified candidates by noon tomorrow.”

So, we observers are left in limbo.

In the meantime, any candidates out there who know you have been disqualified, please speak up here, and tell us your story…

8 thoughts on “Doing the candidate limbo (how low can you go?)

  1. `Kathryn Fenner

    If the guy who filed his report less than hour afterwards, but was stricken, is being accurate, I am disappointed in the Supremes. There are plenty of instances where the law presumes a reasonable time period, especially where public policy might dictate it.

    Katrina Shealy has a solution after your own heart– file as an “other party” candidate–of course, the “independent conservative party’ is not the UnParty….

  2. tavis micklash

    That entire situation is such a mess. Ethics has a HUGE part to blame in this. Their website is atrocious and instead of facilitating the candidates it just adds confusion.

    Apparently the calender listed the wrong dates as well.

    I understand the candidates (and especially their managers) should know the rules. I understand that the supreme court is following the letter of the law as well.

    Its just frustrating to see people stymied by such a deceptively simple process.

    The sad part is that these statement of economic interest forms are almost useless since almost nothing is required to be reported.

    The candidates are being held accountable. Lets hold the people who caused this confusion accountable too.

  3. Greg

    I can’t wait to see how this affected the “redistricted” incumbents, since they weren’t really incumbents anymore.
    Until we see the list, we won’t know how many “really good” candidates got axed either.

  4. Lynn

    I believe the Supreme Court order requires the Parties who are the gatekeepers to provide the information to the State Election Commission by noon tomorrow.

  5. `Kathryn Fenner

    Logan Smith (Palmetto Public Record) reports that the deadline for reconsideration motions was this morning and that WIS recorded no one filing in time…..

  6. Brad

    It’s past noon now, and I still haven’t seen that list. I checked with Adam, and he hasn’t either — although he said Tim Flach has a Richland County list. Here’s hoping he shares it soon.

    In the meantime, his fans here will be relieved to know that Walid Hakim plans to fight on (didn’t you know he would?).

    Here’s his statement:

    We have great news from the campaign of Walid Hakim for State House Seat 88. After learning of yesterday’s State Supreme Court ruling, we looked towards a path to stay in the race for Seat 88 and to serve the people of South Carolina. We have the utmost respect for the Supreme Court’s decision. Transparency in the electoral process is fundamental to ensuring that voters can make an informed decision about who they feel will best represent them.

    Walid Hakim is now seeking Nomination by Petition to be placed on the November ballot for the Democratic Party. The petition requires signatures from 5% of the voters.

    With this new task in front of us, we are eager to meet any new challenges that may arise. We humbly ask for your support as we attempt to enable our democratic process to work.

    ###

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