Democrat running for SC secretary of state wants to change office’s duties

COLUMBIA — The Democrat seeking to oust South Carolina’s longtime secretary of state wants to change the job description.

Jason Belton’s campaign platform includes “restoring election integrity” to bring “accountable leadership at the ballot,” his website reads. But in South Carolina, the secretary of state has nothing to do with the ballot. The office plays no role in registering voters or conducting elections.

Belton believes that should change.

In South Carolina, the secretary of state leads the office where businesses, corporations, and charities file their paperwork. Other duties of the agency include regulating professional fundraisers and approving notaries. The secretary’s very limited role in elections is to certify every four years who South Carolinians chose for president — weeks after vote-counting stops.

Republican Mark Hammond, first elected in 2002, last did that in December 2024, when he signed the document officially declaring that Donald Trump received South Carolina’s nine votes in the Electoral College.

In 40 other states, the secretary of state is the chief election officer, according to the Council of State Governments. But in South Carolina, that job goes to the state Election Commission, an agency governed by five board members and the director they choose. By law, the director can’t be in elected office or even a candidate for at least a year before the appointment.

But Belton believes the secretary of state should head the Election Commission or at least have a “senior adviser role,” saying the voters should elect who’s in charge of elections.

“We’re talking about somebody that’s over the most important thing in this state, and that’s voting and I think they should be held accountable to the voters, but that’s hard if none of these roles are actually voted in by the people,” Belton said, adding the secretary of state “should have statutory power as it comes to the Election Commission.”

That would require the Legislature changing the law. Belton said he’d advocate for that.

“I would love to talk that over with the General Assembly” on the specific changes, said Belton, who won the June primary over Edwina Winter to be the Democratic nominee.

Hammond, who had no GOP opponent in his bid for a seventh term, said he’d accept the new role if legislators put the secretary of state in charge. But he doesn’t think they will.

Under existing law, all Election Commission board members are appointed by the governor to four-year terms, who can technically hire and fire the director. But the Senate gets the final say over a hire through the confirmation process, a role they’re loath to give up.

Other plans

As for the secretary of state’s existing duties, Belton said he entered the race because of its role with charities, which must register and file annual reports with the office in order to solicit donations from South Carolinians or risk suspension.

During Hammond’s tenure, that information became more easily accessible. Charities’ financial reports are searchable online and through an app called “Give Smart SC.” People can submit an online complaint about a charity’s solicitation.

Every November, the office recognizes 10 charity “angels” that spend at least 80% of donations on their mission.

Belton said he’ll advocate for a law requiring big, out-of-state nonprofits to work through a local nonprofit. He believes that will result in less spending on administration. He said he wants to create a referral program to help small businesses and nonprofits get loans and grants.

“A lot of times, to thrive as a business is more about relationships. It’s about having access to banks,” Belton said.

And he wants to broaden the office’s reach by putting an employee or artificial intelligence station in every county. He did not have a cost estimate but says it shouldn’t cost a lot because they’d use space in existing government buildings.

But Hammond, former clerk of court in Spartanburg County, called whatever Belton’s plan would cost a “waste of money.”

“If you want to do business with the Secretary of State’s office in South Carolina, all you need is a cellphone, and I don’t know anyone starting a business that doesn’t have a cellphone or a checking account,” he said.

The office has about 30 employees and operates on less than $1.7 million in state taxes. Its total budget this fiscal year is $5.5 million, funded mostly by the filing fees it charges.

Asked about his plans, Hammond said he’d like to take more noncompliant charities to the Administrative Law Court to suspend their legal fundraising operations.

And while online services make in-person filings unnecessary, he says there’s still work to do to make the office more “business friendly.” He’s looking to add an AI assistant to the agency’s website to answer questions and help filers navigate the system.

“I still feel like there’s more to do, and I think that we’re getting a lot accomplished,” Hammond, 62, said about why he’s running again. “You know, I have always wanted to have a Secretary of State’s office that is very transparent, that is user friendly and never closes. Right now, the South Carolina Secretary of State’s office technically never closed.”

Belton, 39, is the former state director for the AFL-CIO union and co-chief of a political and business consulting firm. He’s also vice president of the AFL-CIO’s Greater Columbia Central Labor Council, a liaison between the national union and local unions in 12 counties. In that role, he helps train local union leaders in a state that’s among the least-unionized nationwide.

It’s been 40 years since South Carolinians elected a Democrat as secretary of state.

In 1990, John Campbell lost his bid for a fourth term to Jim Miles, the first Republican to win the job since Reconstruction.

Hammond won the last open contest in 2002, when Miles ran unsuccessfully for governor.