It's up to the South Carolina Supreme Court to decide if dozens of candidates across the state will have their names pulled from the ballot for the June 12 primary.
The high court heard oral arguments Tuesday in a lawsuit filed in Lexington County that claims the candidates should be disqualified for not filing financial disclosure forms before the deadline.
The lawsuit names only a handful of candidates from Lexington County, but if the Supreme Court rules against those candidates, more than 80 others statewide could be left off the ballot, including more than a dozen from Horry County, in House and Senate, county council and school board races.
The issue is a form called a statement of economic interests. Its purpose is to disclose a candidate's potential conflicts of interest in financial matters.
The state ethics law changed last year. It now requires all candidates running for office to fill out one of the statements. That had to be done by March 30 and the form had to be filed online, not in paper form.
Former Horry County council chairperson Liz Gilland, who is running for state representative in House District 105, is among the many candidates who didn't fill out the form on time.
She said she is in limbo as a candidate until the Supreme Court rules on the case.
"It's difficult to go up to people and say, 'Hi, I'm Liz Gilland, I may be running for this office. Will you vote for me if my name's on the ballot?' So I'm not doing much of anything because I'm waiting," Gilland said.
Gilland said she wasn't told about the new rule requiring candidates to file the forms. She said state election officials should have told state leaders from both political parties about the change in the law.
"You would think that when the guys in Columbia pass a new law that has to do with elections, they would make sure that everybody knows about it," she said.
Gilland said the case puts her at a disadvantage compared to the other candidates in the primary race.
"I have I think 5 guys that are running for the office as well, and I see signs for one of them all up and down the streets and I'm thinking, I can't put them out because I don't know if I'm a candidate yet."
SC Election Commission executive director Marci Andino said she expects the court to issue a ruling before the end of this week.
