[EL] statutory question relating to Voting Rights Act

[Richard Winger]

The South Carolina legislature passed Senate Bill 2 last year.  It changed the method by which a party may decide to switch from primary nomination to convention nomination.  The old law said a party can switch to a convention system if 75% of its delegates to the appropriate party convention vote to make that change.  The new law said a party can only switch from primary to convention if the voters at its open primary approve such a switch.

Senate Bill 2 was signed into law on June 13, 2013, and it says, "This act takes effect upon preclearance approval by the US Dept of Justice or approval by a declaratory judgment issued by the US Dist Ct for DC, whichever occurs first."

On June 25, 2013, the US Supreme Court issued its opinion in Shelby County, Alabama v Holder.

My question is, has Senate Bill 2 gone into effect?  The state thinks that the sentence quoted above can be disregarded because of the Shelby County opinion.  But, taken literally, the law seems not to be in effect, because it hasn't been precleared nor approved by the US Dist Ct in D.C.

Due to problems with yahoo, I can no longer receive messages from the list, so if you respond, please send a copy of your response directly to me at richardwinger at yahoo.com.  Thank you.

 
Richard Winger
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PO Box 470296, San Francisco Ca 94147
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