{"id":4357,"date":"2026-08-05T22:38:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T22:38:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4357"},"modified":"2026-08-05T22:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T22:38:23","slug":"sc-supreme-court-ford-can-stay-on-senate-ballot-after-gop-state-appeal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4357","title":{"rendered":"SC Supreme Court: Ford can stay on Senate ballot after GOP, state appeal"},"content":{"rendered":"<article><!-- --><!-- --><!-- WPS-5038 -- removed the script from WPS and added the placeholder for trinity player --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><!-- CONTENT --><!--[--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>As South Carolina voters head to the polls for early voting in the Republican special primary for U.S. Senate, the state Supreme Court ruled Danny Ford II can stay on the ballot to replace the late Lindsey Graham in the November election.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4355\">SC dad arrested after gun found hidden in son\u2019s crib, Richland sheriff says<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Ford, an Upstate farmer and son of the former Clemson football coach, argued the state Republican Party illegally kept him off the U.S. Senate special primary ballot. Circuit Judge Daniel Coble ruled Tuesday that election officials had to add Ford to as many ballots as possible.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The South Carolina GOP and state Election Commission appealed the ruling the state Supreme Court separately Tuesday afternoon. The Supreme Court issued its order Wednesday, the first day of early voting for the Aug. 11 primary.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile we do not reach the merits of Ford\u2019s challenge to the Party\u2019s rule or the application thereof, in an effort to avoid further confusion surrounding this special primary election, we are constrained to deny the motions to stay the circuit court\u2019s preliminary injunction and permit the election, which is already underway, to continue without further disruption,\u201d reads an order from the state Supreme Court posted Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The high court said it plans to evaluate the South Carolina Republican Party\u2019s appeal at a later time. Removing Ford\u2019s name from the ballot at this time would cause further \u201cdisarray,\u201d the Supreme Court determined.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Ford was not certified by the state Republican Party after filing closed July 28. Ford, who also ran a failed bid for agriculture commissioner this year, did not fulfill a new state GOP rule passed in June requiring candidates campaigning as Republicans to have voted in at least two of the previous three party primaries.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The rule is intended to only allow dedicated Republicans to run in the party\u2019s primaries and keep out \u201cTrojan horse candidacies,\u201d a lawyer for the state GOP wrote in its appeal to the South Carolina Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The state Election Commission and South Carolina GOP both asked the Supreme Court to halt Coble\u2019s ruling to avoid voter confusion. But early voting began Wednesday morning with a legal requirement for Ford to appear on ballots, less than a day after the parties\u2019 appeals and Coble\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Coble\u2019s order essentially created two different ballots: one with Ford and one without Ford. Absentee and military and overseas ballots had already been sent out, beginning July 29, Election Commission attorney Thomas Nicholson told Coble during a Monday morning hearing.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4354\">Becky Hill wins as judge dismisses Alex Murdaugh\u2019s lawsuit against her<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn short, changing the ballot when an election is already underway only invites chaos,\u201d wrote attorneys for the state GOP in its appeal. \u201cVoter confusion and burdens on election administration are not theoretical. They are profound.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The state Election Commission asked the state Supreme Court to make a same-day decision Tuesday to avoid potentially placing Ford on the ballot, which required heavy-lifting on the part of county officials. A decision had not been made in time before early voting began at 8:30 Wednesday morning statewide.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHere, under an already condensed special election schedule, compressing this process into the hours between the circuit court\u2019s order and the opening of early voting has introduced a real risk of administrative error affecting every voter in the primary,\u201d the state Election Commission wrote in its appeal.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>All 46 counties were able to adjust the ballots in time for early voting, a spokesperson for the Election Commission said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>The ballot change required counties to redo and retest voting machines, a typically lengthy process that counties had less than a day to complete.<\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe don\u2019t skip any steps,\u201d said Amy Sams, the election director in Pickens County. The county brought in more workers to complete testing and be ready for early voting to begin at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Sams said.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Early voting runs through Aug. 7, and the special primary is Aug. 11. Ford will run against nine other hopefuls, including U.S. Reps. Russell Fry and Ralph Norman, U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, Upstate businessman Mark Lynch and former South Carolina governor and congressman Mark Sanford.<\/p>\n<p><!-- --><!--]--><!--[--><\/p>\n<p>Walterboro attorney Duke Buckner, Upstate farmer Danny Ford II, former Myrtle Beach mayor Mark McBride, retired budget analyst Glenda Gail Parker and Lexington County biologist Samuel Shepherd are also running.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4352\">NC GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards ends reelection campaign after sexual harassment report<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--]--><!--]--><!-- --><!-- --><!-- --><\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Carolina&#39;s high court denied a stay, allowing Danny Ford II to stay on the U.S. Senate special primary ballot as early voting proceeds statewide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>SC Supreme Court: Ford can stay on Senate ballot after GOP, state appeal - US Moving Experts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usmovingexpertss.com\/?p=4357\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"SC Supreme Court: Ford can stay on Senate ballot after GOP, state appeal - 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