Subcommittee carries over bill setting uniform municipal election dates and clarifying certification

The subcommittee carried over S 37 after staff and municipal officials discussed clarifications to the bill, which would set two dates for municipal elections, require municipal election commissions to ensure proper registration books and certify results in three days, and allow municipalities to transfer election responsibility to county boards.

Erica Wright of the Municipal Association of South Carolina said the association worked closely with committee staff and proposed two clarifying amendments: exclude bond referendums and other non‑candidate questions from the requirement that candidate elections be on the two specified dates, and refine language on when newly elected municipal officers’ terms commence to align with the start of council meetings. Wright asked the committee to preserve municipalities’ ability to schedule bond referendums outside the candidate election dates.

Members raised related issues about petition-driven referendums and whether a petition could require an off-cycle municipal vote. Several senators said they supported standardizing municipal election timing to ease workloads for county election officials and to reduce the number of separate municipal election dates across the state; others urged care so that referendums and special circumstances are handled consistently. Committee staff agreed to circulate draft amendment language for consideration.

Because members want to review proposed edits and work on related special‑election provisions that follow, the subcommittee carried S 37 over to a future meeting for amendment drafting and review.