DOJ agreement reached on SC Senate primary military ballots amid eligibility questions

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - South Carolina election officials are working with the U.S. Department of Justice to ensure a fast-moving special Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat complies with federal voting requirements.

Questions are also being raised about whether one candidate qualifies under newly adopted South Carolina GOP rules.

The special Republican primary is scheduled for Aug. 11, with early voting set for Aug. 5-7. The compressed timeline has created a conflict between state election deadlines and federal requirements governing absentee ballots for military and overseas voters.

Federal law generally requires ballots to be sent to active-duty military members and overseas citizens 45 days before an election. However, South Carolina Election Commission Executive Director Conway Belangia said that deadline cannot be met because of the state's schedule for the special primary.

"We know there's certain deadlines we can't meet. They also know there are certain deadlines we can't meet to stay in conformity with state law," Belangia said.

Belangia said the Department of Justice and the state have reached an agreement to address the issue. Under that agreement, absentee ballots must be mailed by Aug. 1, and election officials must maintain active communication with overseas voters throughout the process.

"We're going through and making sure that everybody is on the same page, that DOJ knows exactly what we're doing and that we let them know exactly what we're doing so there are no hiccups as we move through this process," Belangia said.

Meanwhile, the Republican primary field continues to take shape.

Candidates who have announced campaigns include U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman, U.S. Rep. Russell Fry, Greenville businessman Mark Lynch, Walterboro attorney Duke Buckner, and Darline Graham.

But Graham's candidacy is now facing scrutiny from local Republican Party leaders.

The Dorchester County Republican Party has questioned whether Graham meets eligibility requirements under new South Carolina GOP rules adopted this year.

The rules require candidates to have voted in two of the last three Republican primaries to automatically qualify for the ballot. Candidates who do not meet that threshold may seek a waiver from party leadership.

South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick discussed the policy earlier this month.

"That's an objective standard that candidates have to meet to have some history of actually supporting our party in order to be automatically put on the ballot," McKissick said. "Failing that, they could get a waiver from the county executive committee or our state executive committee depending on what level of office they're running for."

In a statement, Dorchester County Republican Party Chairman CJ Westfall said the party had seen reports indicating that "Mrs. Nordone (Graham) reportedly may not meet that requirement" and had requested "a formal review of her qualifications prior to the July 28 certification deadline."

The South Carolina Republican Party said it hopes to have clarity on the matter soon as the certification deadline approaches.