On March 27, thirty-six South Carolina House members introduced HB 5081, which tells the major political parties that if they hold a presidential primary in South Carolina, it must be at least a week earlier than any other southern state presidential primary for that same party. The bill defines “south” to include Missouri, West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, plus the eleven states that are always considered southern states.
This is a peculiar bill. If it is enacted, and one of the two major parties doesn’t want to obey it, there is a fair chance a court would rule that the law can’t be enforced on an unwilling political party. In South Carolina, parties administer their own presidential primaries, and collect the huge filing fee (this year, the Republican filing fee was $25,000 for candidates who announced early, and $35,000 for those who announced later). The two major parties don’t even necessarily hold their presidential primaries on the same day. However, taxpayers do pay for most of the administration of these presidential primaries. Thanks to Frontloading HQ for the news.
If SC passes such a law, I sincerely hope that another southern state will pass an identical law, so that we can finally see what happens when two states have laws requiring that the presidential primary of each be held before the presidential primary of the other.