South Carolina General Assembly
120th Session, 2013-2014

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H. 5031

STATUS INFORMATION

General Bill
Sponsors: Reps. Dillard, Robinson-Simpson, G.R. Smith, Burns, Bannister, Bedingfield, Hamilton, Loftis, Nanney and Stringer
Document Path: l:\council\bills\bh\26127dg14.docx

Introduced in the House on April 2, 2014
Introduced in the Senate on May 1, 2014
Currently residing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary

Summary: Municipal Elections

HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

     Date      Body   Action Description with journal page number
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    4/2/2014  House   Introduced and read first time (House Journal-page 16)
    4/2/2014  House   Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 16)
   4/10/2014  House   Recalled from Committee on Judiciary 
                        (House Journal-page 111)
   4/30/2014  House   Read second time (House Journal-page 94)
   4/30/2014  House   Roll call Yeas-99  Nays-9 (House Journal-page 94)
    5/1/2014  House   Read third time and sent to Senate 
                        (House Journal-page 29)
    5/1/2014  Senate  Introduced and read first time (Senate Journal-page 13)
    5/1/2014  Senate  Referred to Committee on Judiciary 
                        (Senate Journal-page 13)

View the latest legislative information at the website

VERSIONS OF THIS BILL

4/2/2014
4/10/2014

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

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RECALLED

April 10, 2014

H. 5031

Introduced by Reps. Dillard, Robinson-Simpson, G.R. Smith, Burns, Bannister, Bedingfield, Hamilton, Loftis, Nanney and Stringer

S. Printed 4/10/14--H.

Read the first time April 2, 2014.

            

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 5-15-60, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO METHODS OF NOMINATING CANDIDATES IN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT BEFORE A MUNICIPALITY MAY ADOPT AN ORDINANCE CHANGING THE METHOD OF NOMINATING CANDIDATES, THE MUNICIPALITY MUST ADOPT AN ORDINANCE REQUIRING AN ADVISORY REFERENDUM ON THE PROPOSED CHANGE, AND A MAJORITY OF THE QUALIFIED ELECTORS VOTING IN THE ADVISORY REFERENDUM MUST APPROVE THE PROPOSED CHANGE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Section 5-15-60 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 5-15-60.    (A)    Each municipality in this State shall adopt by ordinance one of the following alternative methods of nominating candidates for and determining the results of its nonpartisan elections:

(1)    the nonpartisan plurality method prescribed in Section 5-15-61;

(2)    the nonpartisan election and runoff election method prescribed in Section 5-15-62;

(3)    the nonpartisan primary election and general election method prescribed in Section 5-15-63.

(B)    If nonpartisan elections are not provided for pursuant to subsection (A), nomination of candidates for municipal offices may be by party primary, party convention or by petition in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the applicable provisions of the state election laws and the rules of municipal political party organizations not in conflict therewith.

(C)    Before a municipality may adopt an ordinance changing the method of nominating candidates, the municipality must adopt an ordinance requiring an advisory referendum on the proposed change, and a majority of the qualified electors voting in the advisory referendum must approve the proposed change. The advisory referendum must be held at the time of the general election. The state election laws apply to the advisory referendum mutatis mutandis."

SECTION    2.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

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This web page was last updated on May 6, 2014 at 2:45 PM