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Last Updated: September 10, 2010 at 1:39 PM

South Carolina Green Party v. South Carolina State Election Commission

Case Information

Date Filed: August 7, 2008
State: South Carolina
Issue: Ballot Access
Courts that Heard this Case: U.S. District for District of South Carolina (Case 3:08-cv-02790)

Issue:

Whether South Carolina law, which provides that a candidate that seeks a nomination from multiple parties will be banned from appearing on the ballot if any one of those parties rejects his candidacy, violates the U.S. Constitution. 

Status:

Complaint and Motion for Preliminary Injunction filed 8/7/08.  Motion to Intervene filed by the Charleston County Democratic Party on 8/22/08.  Response to Motion for Prelminary Injunction filed 8/25/08.  Answer filed on 8/28/08.

Court Documents

Commentary

Dale A. Oesterle

Silence of the Lambs

Dale A. Oesterle

With the election of 2012 now well over and past the second inauguration of the incumbent President, the historical analysis of the events has begun and will last as long as written human history lasts. An interesting tidbit may already be lost to the majesty of the moment.

The voters of three very different states, Alaska, New Hampshire, and Ohio, all had an opportunity to call state constitutional conventions. In each state the voters turned the opportunity down by very similar votes, 68%, 64% and 68% respectively against.

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In the News

Daniel P. Tokaji

Ohio Republicans Push Law To Penalize Colleges For Helping Students Vote

Professor Daniel Tokaji was quoted in a Talking Points Memo article about a bill proposed by Ohio Republicans that would restrict Ohio public universities from providing residency documents to students used to help them vote. Ohio law requires voters to have lived in Ohio for at least 30 days immediately before an election, while public schools require students to have "gone to an Ohio high school or have a parent or spouse who lives or is employed in the state prior to enrollment," the story says.

Essentially, if the law passes, schools giving out-of-state students documents to prove residency in Ohio 30 days before an election, the schools would also have to consider the out-of-state students as Ohio residents and charge them the same tuition price as in-state students. Tokaji said the law is a blatant attempt at voter repression by Republicans and called it "shameful."

“The way that they’ve written this bill makes it clear that its only purpose is to suppress student voting,” he said. “What I’d say to the Republican Party is this is not only a shameful strategy, but it’s a stupid strategy because, you know, the Republican Party already has a signifcant problem with young voters. They’re on the verge of losing a generation of voters. Their path to victory is not to suppress the student vote, but to win the student vote.”

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Info & Analysis

Ohio House Committee Recommends Upholding Landis' Election Victory

Yesterday, an Ohio House of Representatives committee recommended 5-4 that the Ohio House uphold the election victory of Republican State Representative Al Landis over Democratic challenger Josh O'Farrell. In February, the Ohio Supreme Court sent the O'Farrell v. Landis record to the House for consideration. According to an article in the Canton Repository, committee chairman and State Representative Matt Huffman said he expects a vote by the full House later this month.

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Major Pending Cases

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