In Support Of Extending SC Runoff Elections

TWO-WEEK PERIOD IS TOO SHORT … 

We are of several minds regarding a recent effort to extend South Carolina’s partisan runoff elections from two weeks to sixty days … (ostensibly to enable members of the U.S. Armed Forces serving overseas to cast their ballots).

First, let’s be honest… this is an effort to give the forces marshaling resources against liberal U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (RINO-S.C.) additional time to mount an effective media campaign against him.

And we’re fine with that …

Graham is a liar, a traitor and a special interest whore (not to mention an unapologetic tax-hiking fiscal liberal). Accordingly, anything that raises roadblocks in the path of his reelection bid is something we support.

Having said that, it’s clear the S.C. Election Commission (SCEC) is in compliance with existing state law governing runoffs. Not only that the agency accepts overseas military absentee ballots via email and facsimile – which seems to undercut the main argument being made against the current process.

We’re sure the SCEC – one of the few state agencies that performs its core governmental functions with excellence and efficiency – will follow whatever direction it receives from state and federal election overseers, but at the end of the day the military absentee component of this case strikes us as largely irrelevant.

In a broader sense, though … we support the idea of extending runoff elections in South Carolina (independent of how such an extension would impact Graham’s race).

Currently, any partisan Palmetto primary election in which no candidate receives a simple majority of votes results in a runoff election between the top two vote-getters – to be two weeks later. In our opinion, that’s not enough time for voters to take sufficient measure of the candidates. It’s certainly not enough time for the candidates to get their messages out to voters.

Don’t get us wrong: There is an exceedingly compelling case to be made that there is virtually no difference between most major party candidates in South Carolina – and that the state’s electorate is too stupid to notice even if there were a difference. But we still think the longer an election (or phase of an election) runs, the more scrutiny can be applied to the candidates in the running.

And the more scrutiny, the better …

So … how much time should elapse between the end of a primary election and the date of a runoff? We’re not sure … but a two-week time frame strikes us as far too compressed.

And we would happily support legislation extending that time frame …