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Court ruling on filing law dumped 1-in-5 candidates from ballot

By ADAM BEAM - abeam@thesate.com

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After 30 years, Raye Felder stepped down from managing the insurance business she started so she could run for the S.C. House of Representatives.

She filed for office on a Tuesday, signing her name on a piece of paper at a Starbucks in Fort Mill and sliding it across the table to Glenn McCall, chairman of the York County Republican Party. It was a happy moment because Felder was the only Republican to file for the seat and she would face no Democratic opposition in November.

But when Felder handed that paper to McCall, she did not hand him a statement of economic interest, the form designed to let voters know if a candidate has any income or business dealings involving public money. She filed that form online a few weeks later, complying — or so she thought — with a new state law passed in 2010 requiring candidates to file the forms online.

Felder was removed from the ballot Friday, following a state Supreme Court decision earlier in the week that says candidates must file paper copies of those economic interest statements at the same time as they file to run for office.

The suit was brought by two men from Lexington County, one of whom — Robert Barger — was paid $500 to do campaign work for Sen. Jake Knotts, an incumbent who was facing a tough primary election but is now unopposed because his opponent has been removed because of the ruling. Barger and Knotts have denied conspiring to throw Knotts’ opposition off the ballot.

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/05/06/2265133/supreme-courts-rul...

Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/2012/05/06/2265133/supreme-courts-rul...