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If a bill crafted by state Rep. Russell Fry, R-Surfside Beach, becomes law, county-level candidates who protest their partisan primary elections will have to head to Columbia to make their case.

Fry鈥檚 bill would take away local political parties鈥� responsibilities for handling primary election protests for county-level partisan offices. .听

For example, during the June primaries, the Horry County Republican Party Executive Committee was tasked with resolving protests from clerk of court candidate Angie Altman-Robbins and county council District 6 candidate Jeremy Halpin, both of whom were defeated in their races. The county party upheld the results.听

Fry said his bill would create a standardized way of handling all partisan primary challenges at both the state and county level. He said the state party is better equipped to handle the primary protests since it already performs that function for state-level candidates such as Carter Smith, who protested his loss in the Republican Primary for state Senate District 33 last year. Incumbent Luke Rankin eventually retained his seat after a runoff with John Gallman.听聽

鈥淭hey handle these things now for state House and Senate candidates, so they have a track record,鈥� Fry said.

Fry added that some county parties don鈥檛 have the infrastructure and experience to handle the protests and follow the process required by state law.听

鈥淚t supports fairness, it supports consistency and ensures that election challenges can happen, particularly in counties that don鈥檛 have dedicated parties,鈥� Fry said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been supported by both the state Republican and Democratic parties as a fairer way to do business.鈥澛�

Altman-Robbins said the proposed law, which mandates that the parties鈥� state executive committee meet in Columbia to hear protests, could make it harder for local candidates to challenge results.

鈥淭he appeal process moves very quickly to begin with,鈥� Altman Robbins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 set by statute, and it moves, 鈥榖am, bam, bam.鈥� Taking that local step out鈥� it would make it harder to get your evidence, to get your witnesses to Columbia. Whereas if it鈥檚 held locally, it would be more readily available, accessible.鈥澛�

The former clerk of court candidate said she鈥檚 happy with the process as it stands, and had no issues with how the local party handled her protest last year, which she filed over concerns about ballots getting jammed in machines and absentee ballots that may not have been properly counted.

鈥淗aving it locally where the election is held, you鈥檙e going to have your witnesses and your evidence more readily available,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I think the Horry County Republican Party Executive Committee 鈥� I think they did a good job. I think the county party should be able to handle it.鈥�

Horry County Republican Party Co-Chairman Ed Carey said he鈥檚 against the change. Co-chairwoman Dreama Purdue did not respond to requests for comment.听

Carey is critical of the state Republican Party, accusing it of taking sides and favoring certain Republicans over others during primary races. He cited the state party鈥檚 funding of campaign fliers for former state Rep. Alan Clemmons, R-Myrtle Beach, during his primary race against challenger Case Brittain last year. Clemmons won but promptly resigned. Brittain went on the win the seat.听

鈥淚鈥檓 not even sure the party should be doing them, to tell you the truth,鈥� Carey said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 like the idea of the state coming into the county. I think there should be a non-partisan board that looks at this stuff, whether it鈥檚 a Democratic Primary or the Republican Party, this non-partisan board looks at that. To bring the state party in, all it is is control of incumbents, in my mind. It just won鈥檛 work.鈥澛�

Fry countered that hearing protests should remain the responsibility of political parties because partisan primaries are run by party organizations.听

鈥淧rimary elections are a function of the parties and they are operated under the law by the parties,鈥� Fry said. 鈥淗aving an independent board that hears these things doesn鈥檛 make a lot of sense. The state parties hear these challenges in primaries pretty routinely for state House and state Senate races.鈥澛�

In a statement, South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Drew McKissick said the state party supports Fry鈥檚 bill, pointing out that the proposed law made it to the Senate last year but never got a vote because COVID-19 shortened the legislative session.听

鈥淭he SCGOP completely supports this legislation because it ensures primary protests would聽not be聽handled by those who are most likely to be directly involved in the campaigns that they鈥檙e hearing challenges from,鈥� McKissick said in a statement. 鈥淭he State Executive Committee is comprised of people who have decades of experiences dealing with campaigns, elections, and the problems that are likely to be at issue in any challenge.听We鈥檒l be working with Representative Fry to help push it through again this year.鈥澛�

South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Trav Robertson said he couldn鈥檛 take a position on the bill as it was filed until he talked to Democratic legislators and county party chairs.

鈥淚鈥檓 not trying to be an ass about this, but it鈥檚 really fascinating that you get people like Russell Fry who say believe in local rule and home rule, but they鈥檙e trying to take it away from those local entities,鈥� Robertson said.听

But Robertson added that county-level executive committees are sometimes worried about doing something wrong when following the state-mandated protest process.听

鈥淚 don鈥檛 disagree with the general premise,鈥� Robertson said of the bill. 鈥淚 do think the state executive committee is more equipped than our other committees.鈥澛�

Right now, the appeals from those county offices are first handled by the local party. If a candidate isn鈥檛 happy with the results, they can appeal to the state party.听

鈥淓ssentially what they鈥檙e going to be doing if this bill passes is removing part of the candidate鈥檚 process rights,鈥� said Altman-Robbins, who worked in the clerk of court鈥檚 office before she ran for the seat.

鈥淲e need to be careful about eliminating our rights when it comes to voting 鈥� as a candidate and as a voter,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 interesting, myself, the voting and democracy in America. I love it. It鈥檚 something worth protecting.鈥�