Was ten percent an exact emergency-ballot requirement at a South Carolina machine-voting precinct?

Plain-English summary

In a separate letter to Senator Leventis, the South Carolina Attorney General's office answered the same emergency-ballot question raised in another opinion issued that day to two representatives. The 2008 amendment had changed the requirement for machine-voting precincts from an amount equal to ten percent of registered qualified voters to an amount not exceeding ten percent. The office said election officials could decide the number within that ceiling and could not derive one exact count from the new text.

The opinion also emphasized the duty to keep ballots available. If official ballots were insufficient, poll managers had to supply ballots as close as possible to the official form without undue delay. The office said qualified voters should not be turned away for lack of ballots and suggested using prior local election experience to estimate need.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2008. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Did a machine-voting precinct need exactly ten-percent paper ballots?

No. The AG read the amended statute as a ceiling rather than a fixed required count.

Who chose the number below that ceiling?

Election authorities had discretion, while the opinion emphasized providing enough ballots to preserve voting access.

What if ballots ran short on election day?

The quoted subsection required managers to provide near-official substitute ballots without undue delay for qualified voters who lacked an official ballot.

Background and statutory framework

S.C. Code Ann. § 7-13-430(A) governed ballot quantities at voting places. The opinion compared the previous exact ten-percent wording for machine precincts with the amended “not to exceed” wording. It also quoted Section 7-13-430's rule for substitute ballots when official supplies were inadequate. The letter reached the same substantive result as the separate opinion of that date addressed to Representatives Cobb-Hunter and Smith.

Citations and references

• S.C. Code Ann. § 7-13-430(A): amended emergency-ballot quantity rule.
• Section 7-13-430: substitute ballots when official ballots run short.

Official title

October 16, 2008

Requester

The Honorable Phil P. Leventis, Senator, District No. 35

Source

• Landing page: https://www.scag.gov/opinions/opinions-archive/october-16-2008/
• Original PDF: https://www.scag.gov/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/leventis-p-p-os-8676-10-16-08-emergency-paper-ballots-in-precincts1.pdf

Original opinion text

H ENRY M CM ASTER
ATfORNEY G ENER/\L

October 16, 2008

The Honorable Phil P. Leventis
Senator, District No. 35
P. 0. Box 142
Columbia, South Carolina 29202
Dear Senator Leventis:

In a letter to this office you requested an opinion regarding S.C. Code Ann. § 7-13-430(A) which regulates the p lacement and number ofemergency paper ballots available in precincts utilizing voting machines. Such provision states:
[t]here must be provided for each voting place where voting machines are not used as many ballots as are equal to one hundred ten percent of the registered qualified voters at the voting place. There must be provided for each voting place where voting machines are used a number of ballots not to exceed ten percent of the registered qualified voters at the voting place. The authority responsible for conducting an election must provide to each poll manager the appropriate number of ballots according to the provisions of this section. Formerly, such provision stated that: (A) TI1ere must be provided for each voting place where voting machines are not used as many ballots as are equal to one hundred ten percent of the registered qualified voters at the voting place. There must be provided for each voting place where voting machines are used as many ballots as are equal to ten percent of the registered qualified voters at the voting place. The authority responsible for conducting an election must provide to each poll manager the appropriate number of ballots according to the provisions of this section. (emphasis added).

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c. DENN IS BUILDING • POST OFFICE Box 11 549 • COLUMBI./\ . SC 29211-J549 • TELEPHONE 803· 734-3970 • FACSIMILE 803-253-6283

The Honorable Phil P. Leventis
Page2
October 16, 2008

Generally, when interpreting the meaning of a statute, certain basic principles must be observed. The cardinal rule of statutory interpretation is to ascertain and give effect to legislative intent. State v. Martin, 293 S.C. 46, 358 S.E.2d 697 (1987). Typically, legislative intent is determined by applying the words used by the General Assembly in their usual and ordinary significance. Martin v. Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, 256 S.C. 577, 183 S.E.2d 451 ( 1971 ). Resort to subtle or forced construction for the purpose oflimiting or expanding the operation of a statute should not be undertaken. Walton v. Walton, 282 S.C. 165, 318 S.E.2d 14 (1984). Courts must apply the clear and unambiguous terms of a statute according to their literal meaning and statutes should be given a reasonable and practical construction which is consistent with the policy and purpose expressed therein. State v. Blackmon, 304 S.C. 270, 403 S.E.2d 660 (1991); Jones v. South Carolina State Highway Department, 247 S.C. 132, 146 S.E.2d 166 (1966). As is obvious, the recent amendment to subsection (A) deleted the requirement that in circumstances were voting machines are used, as many ballots as equal to ten percent of the voters at the polling place were to be available. Such provision now requires only that there must be provided at the polling place "a number of ballots not to exceed ten percent" of the qualified voters. As a result of the amendment, this office cannot provide an absolute number of emergency ballots that must be available at a particular polling place. The number of emergency ballots made available is within the discretion of election officials. We can only emphasize that caution is in order and a sufficient number of emergency ballots must be made available based upon experiences of past elections at a particular polling place. Such mandate is consistent with the requirement of subsection (B) of Section 7-13-430 which states that
[w]hen a sufficient number of official ballots are not available for all qualified electors present at the polling place to vote, the managers of election without undue delay shall provide ballots made as nearly as possible in the form of the official ballot to those electors for whom official ballots are unavailable, and for all purposes of the election laws of this State these ballots are the same as official ballots. A manager of election who fails to comply with the provisions of this subsection is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, must be fined not more than five hundred dollars. Therefore, election authorities must act wisely to make assurances that a sufficient number of emergency ballots are ready at the polling place as would be necessary in order to preserve the integrity of the voting process. At no time should ballots not be available on election day and at no time should voters be turned away because of the excuse of unavailable ballots.

The Honorable Phil P. Leventis
Page 3
October 16, 2008

With kind regards, I am,
Very truly yours,
Henry McMaster
Attorney General

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By:

REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:

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Deputy Attorney General

Charles H. Richardson
Senior Assistant Attorney General