STATEHOUSE REPORT | ISSUE 22.42 | Oct. 20, 2023
BIG STORY: No-excuse early voting starts Oct. 23 across state
NEWS BRIEFS: Magistrate judge applicants to face probing questions
LOWCOUNTRY, Ariail: Trick or treat
COMMENTARY, Brack: Fragility of our democracy is being tested now
SPOTLIGHT: S.C. Farm Bureau
MYSTERY PHOTO: Spooky
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
No-excuse early voting starts Oct. 23 across state
Staff reports | You don’t have to wait until Nov. 7 to cast a ballot.
No-excuse early voting in more than 200 local elections and some special elections starts Monday. Across South Carolina, voters will pick mayors in larger cities, such as Charleston, North Charleston and Greenville. And dozens of seats on everything from city councils to public works commissions will be filled.
“Early voting gives voters more options, more time and more power to make their voices heard,” said Charleston County Board of Voter Registration and Elections Executive Director Isaac Cramer. “Our early voting centers allow voters to choose when and where to cast their ballots without worrying about long lines, bad weather or unexpected emergencies on Election Day.”
In general, voters can head to the ballot box early from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 23 to Nov. 3, except on Sundays. For locations, contact your local elections office, according to the State Election Commission.
Voters will be asked to show a current and valid photo ID when checking in at an early voting center. Valid IDs include S.C. driver’s licenses, S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles ID cards, S.C. voter registration cards with photos, federal military IDs or U.S. passports.
Other forms of voting:
- Absentee ballots. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is 5 p.m. Oct. 27. Contact your local election office to be mailed an application and the process.
- Election day. Voters can cast their ballots in person from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day Nov. 7. Voters can use S.C. Votes to find their polling location, review a sample ballot and more.
A little election fun
Poll workers in Charleston County will be handing out stickers featuring designs from this year’s three winners of the county election office’s first-ever “I Voted!” sticker design contest during the early voting period. The special stickers will be handed out as voters scan their ballots while supplies last.
Magistrate judge applicants to face probing questions
Staff reports | Gov. Henry McMaster says he is requiring applicants for magistrate judge positions to disclose a greater amount of information about their qualifications in response to the growing concern about the conduct of judges across the state.
“I am confident that we can enhance the caliber of our State’s magistrates, while also simultaneously advancing public safety and restoring the public’s faith in this critical component of our judiciary,” McMaster wrote in a letter to state senators, who nominate candidates to be magistrates. In recent years, the state Supreme Court has reprimanded some magistrates for cursing, not showing up for work and more.
In the letter, McMaster said applicants need to be asked about familiarity with legal issues and sentencing philosophy. He also says they need to submit the kind of financial and background information that other statewide appointees have to provide.
According to the Associated Press, “Magistrates are the lowest level in the state court system, but handle the most business. They issue search and arrest warrants, set bail, hear criminal cases where the punishments are fines less than $500 or 30 days in jail, civil matters where less than $7,500 is in dispute and issue temporary and emergency restraining orders.”
In other South Carolina News:
Power grid at ‘crisis point,’ House speaker warns. S.C. House Speaker Murrell Smith warned Statehouse colleagues that South Carolina’s rapid expansion in recent years have put a strain on the state’s power grid, reaching a ‘crisis point’ that could affect residents and their accessibility to power.
S.C. GOP leaders blast latest abortion lawsuit as hypocrisy. South Carolina’s Republican leadership has a new wave of legal filings pushing back against abortion providers’ latest lawsuit over abortion prohibition.
New bill could end forced stays in office for incumbents. There’s a quirk in South Carolina law that requires incumbent municipal officials to remain in office if a candidate for that position challenges the outcome of their election, but a new bill headed for the fast track is expected to change that.
S.C. emergency management officials urge earthquake preparedness. Scientists say they can’t predict when an earthquake will hit South Carolina, but emergency officials suggest residents to remain prepared as much as you can and know what to do when the ground starts to shake.
State Infrastructure Bank boosts I-526 funding. The bank updated its share of funding for the extension of I-526 to $75 million to allow first steps on the road to continue.
S.C. Ports leader praises deepened harbor, increased cargo capacity. South Carolina Ports Authority President and CEO Barbara Melvin gave a tip of the hat for Charleston’s port success to two drivers — the deepened Charleston harbor and increased cargo capacities. During her second State of the Port address Monday, Melvin also referred to a new study that said the port has an $87 billion impact on the state.
S.C. ban on ‘Carolina Squat’ goes into effect next month. The state’s law prohibiting the “Carolina Squat” will be effective starting Nov. 12. It received nearly unanimous votes in both chambers of the South Carolina Statehouse in May before being signed by Gov. Henry McMaster.
Appeals court to allow argument for new trial for Murdaugh. An appellate court is allowing convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh to argue for a new trial because of possible jury tampering. But that doesn’t mean Murdaugh will be getting out of prison anytime soon, thanks to a guilty plea to financial crimes for stealing millions of dollars.
Charlamagne tha God tells political story in new film. The television personality is promoting a new documentary film about the 2020 Senate race between Democratic candidate Jaime Harrison and U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.
Trick or treat
Award-winning cartoonist Robert Ariail generally has a biting or funny comment about the great state of South Carolina in his weekly cartoon. Here’s something seasonal to consider. Love the cartoon? Hate it? What do you think: feedback@statehousereport.com.
Fragility of our democracy is being tested now
By Andy Brack | There’s been a growing, gnawing sense among many Americans that the nation’s fragile democracy is flailing amidst an authoritarian threat from within.
You see it in a president imploring people to do the right thing to aid Ukraine and Israel. It’s in the courts as landmark cases are shredded by a 6-3 conservative majority that claims to interpret based on the original intent of the U.S. Constitution, but is more activist than many a liberal court.
And front and center, you see it in a Congress that can’t get its act together. One speaker had to go 15 rounds before capturing a narrow majority, only to be turned out by hard right radicals who haven’t been able to elect one of their own. To some, the Grand Old Party of Republicanism is disintegrating before our very eyes with some predicting a split that could have major ramifications.
All of this ghoulish disarray is having a sobering impact on a polarized electorate of American voters, according to a big new study by the Center of Politics at the University of Virginia.
It “reveals a stunning number of Americans on both sides of the aisle endorsing policies that could challenge the U.S. Constitution, even as a majority express a preference for democracy over other forms of governance,” according to an overview.
Among the startling findings:
Resistance. About seven in 10 voters who prefer Democratic President Joe Biden or former Republican President Donald Trump say they believe electing officials from the other party would hurt the country. And in a show that compromise and collaboration are waning, about half of each said they saw those who supported the other party as threats to the American way of life, the study said.
Violence. About 40% of the 2,008 voters polled said they believed the other side was so extreme that it was acceptable for violence to be used to keep them from succeeding in their goals.
Authoritarianism. While 69% said they thought democracy was the preferable form of government compared to non-democratic forms, “nearly half of the overall sample frequently expressed opinions that veered towards authoritarianism.”
Secession. Two in five Trump voters and a third of Biden voters said they would favor red or blue states respectively seceding from the union and forming their own countries.
There’s more disturbing stuff in the survey about the partisan split on issues between those who support Biden and Trump, but the bottom line is the nation’s spirit has been sapped since the 2016 election and the debacle of the results in the 2020 election.
As one of the center’s advisers noted, “The breakdown of the democratic norms most Americans have long taken for granted is not a problem just among the right or the left, it is a growing American problem. Politicians and voters can point fingers all they want, but what is needed is action to fix it.”
So is there any hope – that concept that Barack Obama made famous in 2008 and that fueled his presidency and spawned a counter-movement?
Historian Heather Cox Richardson believes the country will recapture its zeal for democracy, just as it has before after small groups of people have tried to take it away. The “Letter from an American” newsletter author, who has more than 2 million daily subscribers, says in a new book called Democracy Awakening that American democracy will persist.
“The true history of American democracy is that it is never finished,” she concludes. “Reclaiming our history of noble struggle reworks the polarizing language that has done us such a disservice while it undermines the ideology of authoritarianism.”
Let’s hope she’s right.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com.
S.C. Farm Bureau
Statehouse Report is provided for free to thousands of subscribers thanks to the generosity of our underwriters. Today we shine a spotlight on our newest underwriter, S.C. Farm Bureau. It is a grassroots, non-profit organization that celebrates and supports family farmers, locally-grown food and rural lands through legislative advocacy, education and community outreach.
S.C. Farm Bureau’s alliance of nearly 100,000 members includes everyone from foodies and fishermen to lawyers, restaurateurs, entrepreneurs, community leaders, and of course, farmers. By connecting farmers to the larger community, the organization cultivates understanding about agriculture’s importance to our local economies. The S.C. Farm Bureau explains its mission: “We deepen our collective knowledge of who, where and how food grows. We empower people to make informed choices. We grow mutually-beneficial relationships. And, we ensure the future of the family farms, locally-grown food and the rural South Carolina lands we love.”
- To learn more about S.C. Farm Bureau’s programs, click here.
- To view media and publications, click here
- For policy and legislation, click here.
Spooky
We’ll stick with the Halloween theme this week and offer this mystery for your consideration. What is it? Where is it? Send us your guess of what this photo shows – as well as your name and hometown – to feedback@statehousereport.com.
Last week’s mystery photo, “In the jungle,” shows Fort Fremont on St. Helena Island in Beaufort County.
David Lupo of Mount Pleasant provides its relevance: “The fort is one of two remaining U.S. coastal fortifications dating to the Spanish-American War era. While it was authorized to protect Port Royal Sound soon after the Spanish-American War began, fighting never reached South Carolina, and the war ended before the fort was completed. The fort was unused after 1911. It was decommissioned and the land was sold in 1930. The property is now owned by Beaufort County, and a new History Center was opened in November 2021.”
Congrats to all who also correctly identified it: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; Haidie Stith of Lexington; Allan Peel of San Antonio, Texas; Penny Forrester of Tallahassee, Fla.; Frank Bouknight of Summerville; Rebecca McLain of Bluffton; Janice Dinken of Chapin; Jay Altman and Elizabeth Jones of Columbia; Charles Ford of Goose Creek; Bill Segars of Hartsville; Crystal Wincester of Beaufort; Pat Keadle of Wagener; Romaine Singletary and Barry Wingard, both of Florence; Gail Kelley of Spartanburg; Clifford Enloe of New Holland; and Shelley Hubbard and Nick Santangelo.
>> Send us a mystery picture. If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send to: feedback@statehousereport.com and mark it as a photo submission. Thanks.
Send us your thoughts
We encourage you to send in your thoughts about policy and politics impacting South Carolina. We’ve gotten some letters in the last few weeks – some positive, others nasty. We print non-defamatory comments, but unless you provide your contact information – name and hometown, plus a phone number used only by us for verification – we can’t publish your thoughts.
- Have a comment? Send your letters or comments to: feedback@statehousereport.com. Make sure to provide your contact details (name, hometown and phone number for verification. Letters are limited to 150 words.
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