So I read the lede story in The State this morning, and said, “What the…huh?!?”
How could the executive committee of the state Republican Party, after a session in which that party’s governor emoted all over it, overthrow the decision of the state Supreme Court and say, hey, Katrina, you can be on the ballot? How could anyone think for a second that the party had the power to do that? Like the professional valet parking guy said, “What country do you think this is?”
And that was the first thing I was going to blog about this morning. Only I didn’t have time to blog this morning. By the time I was able to turn to it, late this afternoon, the state Election Commission had stated what should have been obvious:
The South Carolina Elections Commission said today that Katrina Shealy’s name cannot appear on the June 12 primary ballot despite being certified by the state GOP executive committee on Wednesday.
The commission said the ballots became official with the names submitted May 4. Shealy had been decertified along with more than 180 other candidates who county parities found had not submitted copies of their statements of economic interest when they filed for office.
But then, just in case that double-double back didn’t throw your neck out of joint, Ms. Shealy promised to do her best to jerk it back in the other direction yet again:
A spokesman for Shealy’s campaign referred comments to the state GOP.
“The State Executive Committee is examining its legal options in light of today’s State Election Commission statement,” the S.C. GOP said in a statement.
Oh, and get this from the governor (in fact, go read the whole story, most of which I’ve reproduced here):
Haley said today that the elections commission should not squash voters’ rights: “Under no circumstances should a government bureaucracy stand in the way of a free and fair election in South Carolina. The people of our state deserve to have their voices heard.”
You see, the duly constituted official authorities — along with the Supreme Court — are “bureaucrats.” Apparently, the decisions about who appears on the ballot should be left up to Nikki Haley, and the state party, if it agrees with her.
Look, I think it’s lousy that all these people got booted from the ballot, too. And Ms. Shealy no more and no less than any other candidate so affected, if they acted in good faith. But you don’t get to make an exception in one instance to the Supreme Court’s matter-of-fact ruling that the law says what it says, even if the governor really, really, really wants you to, with sugar on top.
Of course, one can hardly blame the governor being confused about all this rule-of-law stuff. I’ll confess to being pretty confused about various aspects of this situation. For instance, I need to ask Todd Kincannon, next time I see him, to ‘splain to me how a case about trying to be on the ballot turned into a case about… military absentee votes? Whabba-who? Homina-homina?
There’s just all kinds of bad craziness going on.
Related Posts
The Governor doesn’t have to be an expert; her counsel does. Maybe she needs to jettison the loyalty-first crowd and get some competency-first people on the payroll.
I’m still confused by Haley criticizing that group for being partisan.
I guess if anyone knows partisan she does.
It’s stories like this one that make me think Petigru was wrong when he described SC as too large to be an insane asylum.
I am still amused that the Supreme Court made it’s ruling on the election soon after it had to state that it as the ultimate judicial body has no standing to rule on legislative ethics violations.
I can’t help but think that this wasn’t just deserts for the legislature’s inability to function (to write coherent laws and police itself as a body of public servants). Like that said, here, catch this grenade! True, the candidates (and voters) were hurt by their ruling this primary; but it cannot but have long-lasting repercussions for those in the State House. Jake Knotts certainly played right into that potential whiplash; but then he does seem to be the Teflon Don.
Maybe next time someone will actually challenge Knotts. Shealy should not have even been that person this year.
My plan, write-in Shealy and if she wins vote for whoever is running against her in November. That way we get rid of Knotts and Shealy in one year.
It would seem to me that all or none should be allowed to file. And in order to file, the Legislature would have to get off of its collective tush and legislate a way around this situation.
Katrina can just file as an independent correct?
What are the repercussions of this besides party backlash?
Basically an independant in name only. Or IINO
What would an unparty in name only be, an UNO.
There is a God after all!
After much gnashing of teeth and threatening to throw the SC GOP Executive Committee under the bus, SC Governot Nikki Haley gets her wish to have her crony put on the ballot.
However, the SC Election Commission says “Sorry, no can do!”
BTW, SC Governot Nikki Haley is also a “bureaucrat”.
She is also as corrupt as Boss Hogg in the “Dukes of Hazzard”.
@ Ralph – If Haley is Boss Hogg (Boss Hoggette) who would be Roscoe P. Coltrane?
For that matter, where’s Daisy?
I’m gonna get those Hightower boys…. goo goo goo….
@ Silence:
Tim Pearson, Chief of Staff, is her “Roscoe P Coltrane”.
I haven’t seen Katrina Shealy in a pair of “Daisy Dukes”. I just don’t want to imagine the sight.
What I do know is that SC Governot Nikki Haley, during her campaign, did like to wear a lot of white, just like Boss Hogg. She also drives a white Cadillac, just like Boss Hogg; however, instead of a land yacht like the one that Boss Hogg drives, she drives a “Government Motors” Cadillac Escalade SUV.
@Steven, there’s nobody else to vote for in District 23.
Unless we write in BJ the DJ…