Here is a list of independent candidates who will appear on the November 2012 ballot for South Carolina legislature. At least 34 candidates will appear, with a possibility that up to four more will also qualify. Typically, there are zero or one independent candidates on the ballot for South Carolina legislature, because the petition is so difficult.
The reason there are so many this year is that many of these same candidates tried to run in the June 2012 Democratic or Republican primaries, but were eliminated from primary ballots. Many candidates did not know that the law required them to file a campaign finance document in March, both electronically and via paper.
I guess it’s true that most politicians don’t know how to read, just as many in Congress never read the legislation they vote on. So it looks there could be two independents running against each other.
Any idea how many of these exactly are really independents not just Democrats or Republicans running on the Independent ballot label?
@2 Almost all (if not all) are Democrats or Republicans running as “petition” candidates due to the confusing filing requirements for candidate Statements of Economic Interest. This was covered by BAN and other news outlets. Mr. Winger mentions this in the second paragraph.
Some of these petition candidates have taken on nominations of other parties, mostly the Working Families Party, but also the Green Party in a couple of cases. We’ll see if the SC State Election Commission permits fusion with petition candidates. There are indications that the SCSEC may not permit cross-endorsement of petition candidates removed from the ballot prior to the primary.