By Stan Welch – An eleventh hour effort to postpone Tuesday’s South Carolina primary failed Monday when a federal judge refused to grant the injunction sought by Easley attorney Candy Kern Fuller. Fuller filed a lawsuit on Monday on behalf of several candidates from the Upstate, including Ann Smith, who was removed from the ballot for the District Six County Council seat, as a result of a technicality in the filing of her ethics paperwork when she filed to run.
The other plaintiffs included both Republicans and Democrats.
Kern Fuller, who has been or currently is involved in several lawsuits against the county, claimed that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was violated by the change in ballot requirements, resulting in the removal of more than 200 candidates from across the state. The VRA requires that changes in the elective process in several Southern states be approved by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The electoral fiasco began when candidates ran afoul of an administrative requirement that their statement of economic interest had to be filed at the same time as their declaration of candidacy. Incumbents who file their statement annually were not affected.
