South Carolina H 3589: Unlawful employment practices

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 3589 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 05, 2025) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 3589

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

A bill

TO AMEND THE SOUTH CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ADDING SECTION 
7-13-200 SO AS TO ESTABLISH THE INSTANT RUNOFF METHOD OF CONDUCTING CERTAIN 
LOCAL ELECTIONS; BY AMENDING SECTION 5-15-20, RELATING TO METHODS OF ELECTION 
FOR MUNICIPAL COUNCILS, SO AS TO ALLOW FOR MULTIPLE MEMBER ELECTION DISTRICTS; 
BY AMENDING SECTION 5-15-60, RELATING TO METHODS FOR NOMINATING CANDIDATES FOR 
AND DETERMINING RESULTS OF NONPARTISAN MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS, SO AS TO ADD THE 
INSTANT RUNOFF METHOD; AND BY AMENDING SECTION 7-17-610, RELATING TO THE METHOD 
FOR DETERMINING WHICH CANDIDATES HAVE RECEIVED A MAJORITY VOTE FOR A PARTICULAR 
OFFICE, SO AS TO CLARIFY ITS APPLICATION TO ELECTIONS UNDER THE INSTANT RUNOFF 
VOTING METHOD.

Be it enacted by the General 
Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Article 1, Chapter 13, Title 7 of the S.C. Code is 
amended by adding:

 Section 
7-13-200. (A) As used in this 
section, "instant runoff voting" means a method of casting and counting votes 
in which voters rank candidates in order of preference and votes are counted in 
rounds.

 (B) Any 
primary or general election for any general law or home rule city, county, or 
other local office may be conducted by instant runoff voting or multiwinner 
instant runoff voting, also known as the single transferable vote. Any local 
body that conducts its general election by instant runoff voting may do so 
without holding a separate primary or runoff election.

 (C) In 
conducting elections using the instant runoff voting method, election results 
shall be determined in accordance with the following rules:

 (1) 
When more than one person is seeking election to a single office, each voter's 
ballot shall count in each round as one vote for its highest-ranked remaining 
candidate. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated in each round. 
When two or fewer candidates remain, counting stops and the candidate with the 
greatest number of votes shall be elected or nominated.

 (2) 
When more persons than there are offices to be filled are seeking election to 
two or more offices constituting a group, each voter's ballot shall count in 
each round in whole or in part for the highest-ranked remaining candidate. 
Candidates shall be elected, nominated, or eliminated in rounds. Candidates 
shall be elected or nominated if they receive the minimum whole number of votes 
needed to win a seat based on the number of seats to be filled. To determine 
this threshold, divide the total number of valid votes cast by the sum of one 
and the number of seats, round down to the nearest whole number, and then add 
one vote. If a candidate receives more votes than this threshold, a part of 
each of their votes shall count for each ballot's next-highest-ranked-remaining 
candidate instead. If no remaining candidate meets this threshold, the 
candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and votes for that candidate 
shall count for each ballot's next-highest-ranked-remaining candidate. Counting 
ends when the number of candidates elected or nominated plus the number of 
candidates remaining is equal to or less than the number of offices to be 
filled and any remaining votes in excess of the threshold have been counted for 
each ballot's next-highest-ranked-remaining candidate.

 (D) The 
State Election Commission shall adopt rules and regulations for the proper and 
efficient administration of instant runoff voting pursuant to this section, 
including:

 (1) 
procedures for casting and counting votes, for the administration of instant 
runoff elections by counties charged with administering all local elections, 
and procedures for determining when a ballot is improperly marked, 
notwithstanding any other provision of law;

 (2) 
procedures for determining winners in elections conducted under subsection (C);

 (3) 
standards for ballots and ballot instructions, including whether to provide any 
analogue to straight-ticket voting, notwithstanding any other provision of law;

 (4) 
procedures for filling vacancies and conducting recall elections for elections 
conducted under subsection (C)(2), notwithstanding any other provision of law;

 (5) 
procedures to provide for the release of unofficial preliminary round-by-round 
results starting on election night and continuing at regular intervals 
thereafter until final round-by-round results are released with the final 
certification of the results, notwithstanding any other provision of law; and

 (6) 
procedures to provide for the release of unofficial preliminary ballot-level-ranking 
data on a contest-by-contest basis no later than the counting of ballots is 
complete and official final bal