South Carolina Representative Garry R. Smith (R-Simpsonville) has introduced HB 3110. It says that no one may vote in a party primary unless the person signs an affidavit saying he or she is a member of the party. Once a voter had signed such an affidavit, the voter would be deemed to continue to be a member of the same party, until he or she signed another form retracting it. Voters could not switch within 30 days of a primary.

The bill does not include presidential primaries, and if passed, would go into effect in time for the congressional primary of June 2012. Currently South Carolina has open primaries. Any voter, on primary day, can decide which party’s primary ballot to use. The Greenville County Republican Party has a pending lawsuit in U.S. District Court, in which the party seeks to implement such a procedure even in the absence of any state law on the subject. That case is The Greenville County Republican Party Executive Committee v State of South Carolina, 6:10-cv-1407.

In 1965, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which requires that all election law changes in part or all of certain states must be pre-cleared by the Voting Rights Section of the U.S. Justice Department. Alternatively, if the Voting Rights Section refuses to approve the change, the jurisdiction is free to ask a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., to approve the change. Covered states, counties, and localities are also given an opportunity to opt out of the coverage requirement, but the procedure to do that is very difficult. Currently, part or all of 16 states must comply with the pre-clearance part of the Act.

On February 2, 2011, a U.S. District Court Judge in Washington, D.C., heard oral arguments in the latest lawsuit by a covered entity to find the pre-clearance of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. See this story. The lawsuit was filed by Shelby County, Alabama, on April 27, 2010, and is called Shelby County, Alabama v Holder, 1:10-cv-651. Although this part of the Voting Rights Act has been upheld several times by the U.S. Supreme Court, this latest lawsuit focuses on the point that when Congress extended the Act in 2006 for another twenty-five years, Congress relied on data from the 1964, 1968, and 1972 elections, to determine which areas ought to be covered by the Act. The county argues the formula is out-of-date. Shelby County, a suburban county south of Birmingham, is largely white and very Republican. In November 2008, Barack Obama got 22.8% of the vote in Shelby County.

Congressmember David Price (D-North Carolina) and 8 other Democrats have introduced HR414, which changes the rules for presidential public funding. The U.S. House has already passed another bill recently to eliminate public funding, so it seems clear that HR414 will not pass. HR414, like a similar bill introduced in the last session of Congress, makes it more difficult for a presidential candidate to qualify for primary season matching funds. Current law requires that the candidate raise at least $5,000 from each of twenty states, in small donations. The bill would increase that to $25,000 from each of twenty states.

The bill also eliminates public funding to pay for national party conventions, and makes other changes. Thanks to Josh Putnam for the news about the bill.