Election Handbook - Municipal Association of South Carolina

Seven months prior to an election
The municipal election commission should allow at least six to seven months for planning and conducting an election.
Overall duties of the Municipal Election Commission
• Publish election notices
• Appoint and train clerks and poll managers
• Provide information to the county election commission for preparing voting machines and equipment
• Distribute ballots
• Oversee ballot tabulation
• Certify candidates and election results
• Hear protests
Political activity of the municipal election commission
Municipal election commissioners cannot participate in the political management or in a political campaign over whose
election the member has jurisdiction during the member’s term of office. No member may contribute to a candidate or
knowingly attend a fundraiser held for the candidate’s benefit over whose election the member has jurisdiction. Violation
subjects the member to removal by the appropriate appointive authority. SC Code 7-13-75.
Transferring duties or abolishing the municipal election commission
S.C. Code of Laws, Section 5-15-145 allows a municipality to transfer part or all of the municipal election commission’s
authority for conducting its elections to the county election commission. The governing bodies of the municipality and
the county must agree to the transfer terms and enact ordinances according to the terms of that agreement. If the municipality
transfers all responsibility to the county election commission, the municipal election commission is abolished.
See section “Transfer of Authority to County Election Commission for Conducting Municipal Elections.”
Required Freedom of Information Act notices prior to municipal election commission
meetings
As a public body, the municipal election commission is subject to Freedom of Information Act requirements. The municipal
election commission must post a public notice at least 24 hours prior to any meeting including protest hearings. The
meeting notice must include the date, time, location and agenda. It must be posted in a public location, such as city hall.
First municipal election commission meeting
A quorum (at least two members) must be present to conduct business. Items to be covered at the meeting:
1. If municipal election commission members have not already done so, they must take the oath (below) required
under SC Code 7-13-70. This oath is usually given by anyone authorized to administer oaths, such as notaries
public or judges.
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I am duly qualified, according to the Constitution of this State, to exercise
the duties of the office to which I have been appointed, and that I will, to the best of my ability, discharge the duties
thereof, and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of this State and of the United States. So help me
God.”
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