Thinking of voting in the other party’s primary?

The state Republican Party doesn’t want you to.

South Carolina does not require voters to register a party alliance.

If you have registered, you can vote in any primary – but only one party’s primary at a time.

In 2010, the SC Republican Party and the Greenville County Republican Organization asked a federal court to force the state to close its primaries and require partisan registration.

This would have ended South Carolina’s long history of nonpartisan voting rules.

U.S. District Judge Michelle Childs rejected the party’s position that it was constitutionally entitled to close its primaries.

8 years later, they’re trying again.

The SC Republican Party is trying to re-open the question by asking voters to support party registration at the polls on June 12.

GOP Advisory Question No. 1 asks whether voters should be required to chose a party affiliation when registering to vote.

Critics say it would polarize our already divided political climatee.

Independents fear it would block voting for up to 42% of the electorate who don’t align with either major party.

The Black Legislative Caucus of the SC House of Representatives believes that partisan registration and a closed primary system would intensify the state’s racial polarization.

They say it could give African Americans little say in the outcome of elections.

In the state, Republican primaries often decide general election winners with no Democrat primary candidates.

It would also mean that SC citizens who are not registered by party would pay taxes for a primary system they can’t vote in.