RINO Hunt Launches “Operation Lost Vote”
Lexington County State Senator Jake Knotts, who allegedly had a part in creating the fiasco that resulted in some 180 candidates being deleted from the June 12, 2012, primary ballots has succeeded in blocking any attempt by lawmakers to put challengers back on the ballots.
The only hope left for the would-be candidates at press time was the possibility of a delay in the primary date by a panel of three federal judges in order to allow time for corrected ballots to reach service members overseas. It has been alleged that the election commission only sent ballots for federal offices to the troops from South Carolina stationed overseas.
There had been no word Monday night from the panel of judges that were supposed to meet Monday to consider the only remaining part of lawsuits filed by attorney Todd Kincannon, who has been labeled the GOP’s “miniature Harpootlian,” after the headline-seeking Democrat State Chairman Dick Harpootlian.
Sen. Jake Knotts and Todd Kincannon have become the main players in the scandalous caper that has prevented thousands of Democrats and Republicans alike from having a choice in selecting candidates to represent them in the November 2012 General Election.
The most serious voting crisis in state history was launched when it was apparently discovered that Katrina Shealy, who is challenging Knotts for the second time and becoming a serious threat to his career in the South Carolina Senate, had filed her ethics report after filing for office in violation of the current state law. Two Lexington County men, one of whom was reportedly paid $500. to do campaign work for Knotts, filed a lawsuit, charging violation of the law by Knotts’ opponent.
The court quickly ruled that any challenger who did not file an ethics report when they filed for office must be removed from the ballot.
Katrina Shealy was removed from the Lexington County ballot virtually guaranteeing Knotts another four years in the Senate without opposition. What was not expected was that approximately 180 other candidates, both Republicans and Democrats across the state were also removed from ballots. The court action, whether intended or not, served to assure the reelection of incumbent lawmakers who, incidentally, appointed the judges to the bench.
More than a hundred miles to the north, another comedy-drama was taking place. In Greenville County, District 5, Senator Phil Shoopman was challenged in the Republican primary by Amanda Somers, who had voted for Obama in the last presidential primary, but explained to a group of Republican women that she did so in order to oppose Hillary Clinton and her health care plan. Shoopman suddenly and mysteriously withdrew from the race two weeks after filing. That left only Summers to walk in and take the seat.
The state Republican chairman, in compliance with state law reopened filing and two other candidates filed. Somers hired Columbia Attorney Todd Kincannon who sued to get the new opponents removed from the ballot. After the State Supreme Court decision, Somers mistakenly thought she had been removed from the ballot and Kincannon sued to get her reinstated. She had been required to follow the law by Greenville County Republican Party officers and she was never off the ballot.
Kincannon then took the “shotgun approach” and filed a number of lawsuits. Federal Judge Cameron Currie decided only one had merit. The election commission had failed to send state and local absentee ballots to service members from South Carolina who are stationed overseas. A court decision on that matter was pending at press time Monday night.
RINO Hunt, now a statewide organization, the Palmetto Liberty Political Action Committee and several Tea Party groups are furious. They had recruited and supported many of the candidates who were removed from the ballots, especially those challenging senior State Senators who had been Democrats and had only taken the Republican label to get elected but voted and behaved as Democrats.
They began immediately to form a statewide coalition to launch “Operation Lost Vote.” On Monday, May 14th , press conferences were held in Columbia, Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Charleston and Spartanburg.
“In light of the recent State Supreme Court ruling which tosses approximately 200 candidates off the ballot over a technicality (not filing a blank paper form in most cases) and disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters, we are working to bring grassroots groups together from across the state for Operation Lost Vote,” announced Harry Kibler, founder of RINO Hunt.
Kibler further stated that: “This really seems to prove the recent study by The Center for Public Integrity which gave South Carolina a grade of “F” with a ranking of 45 out of 50 states for the worst public corruption. We are simply not going to sit by and wait on the same legislative body that created this problem and appointed this court to fix anything as it is clear their intention is to do nothing.
“In 1991 we had Operation Lost Trust which uncovered the fact that legislators were selling their votes. Today we have Operation Lost Vote as the legislators have now stolen our votes.”
