SC GOP sues to bar nonmembers from primaries
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Columbia, South Carolina. The South Carolina Republican Party filed a 19-page federal lawsuit in early July seeking to restrict participation in its primary elections exclusively to registered Republican voters, a move Chairman Drew McKissick announced in a July 8 video. The complaint follows a yearslong party push to require party registration for voters and a rule change adopted at the party’s recent convention after the Legislature declined to pass a bill. Conway Belangia of the S.C. Election Commission declined to comment and board chairman Robert Bolchoz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit argues that open primaries, in which South Carolina does not require voters to register by party so long as they vote in only one party’s primary per cycle, violate the party’s First Amendment freedom-of-association rights and its ability to choose nominees. The party says compelled participation by nonmembers may dilute its message and alter nominees; the filing cites Supreme Court precedent recognizing nomination selection as a basic party function. Critics warn the change could prevent the public from influencing primary contests that often decide November winners in the state, and observers note similar efforts in Republican-led states have had mixed legal results.
Timeline
- 1. Years of GOP legislative efforts to require partisan registration in South Carolina failed to produce a law.
- 2. Prior state litigation (Hawaii, Colorado) challenged closing taxpayer-funded primaries with mixed outcomes, noted in national coverage.
- 3. A federal complaint from the South Carolina GOP was filed in early July (lawsuit dated July 4 in one report).
- 4. The Hill reported the filing on July 6, describing constitutional claims regarding association and equal protection.
- 5. Chairman Drew McKissick publicly announced the lawsuit in a video on July 8; court proceedings are expected to follow.
Sources
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