The U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th circuit, has set a briefing schedule in South Carolina Green Party v South Carolina Election Commission. All the briefs will be in by October 30. The case concerns the constitutionality of a South Carolina law that says if one party has already nominated its candidate for a particular office, and then that nominee tries and fails to get the nomination of another party, then the first party is no longer able to run that candidate in the November election. In the particular incident which triggered the lawsuit, the Green Party nominated Eugene Platt for the legislature. Later, Platt tried to get the Democratic nomination as well (South Carolina permits two parties to jointly run the same nominee). Because Platt tried to get the Democratic nomination and failed, the Green Party was told that it couldn’t run Platt as its own nominee.
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Although I am no longer a member of the GP, I am proud to have been at, and voted in the convention that gave Eugene the nomination.
This case is basically a challenge to the “sore loser” law. This was intended to prevent people who lost a primary to run under another party banner, or as a write in/petition candidate, after losing a primary. In this case the GP nominated Eugene BEFORE the democratic primary. By denying ballot access Green Party members and supporters of the party and Eugene were disenfranchised.
Good Luck Eugene!!!