The Florence County Democratic Party is suing the county's Republican Party, and the attorneys handling the case say the felt the need to go straight to the South Carolina Supreme Court.
Attorneys MW Trey Cockrell, III and Jason Turnblad, of Cockrell Law Firm, say they don't think they could have resolved a situation with the Florence County Republican Party outside of court.
When the Supreme Court ruled that candidates who had not filed their statement of economic interest by the March 30th deadline could not be on the June 12th Primary Election ballot, the attorneys say Florence County's Democratic Party Chairman, Sheila C. Gallagher, removed the names of the eight Democrats who failed to file in time.
But, the lawyers say, Florence County's Republican Party certified all their candidates, even the ones who failed to file the statement on time.
So, they've asked the court to stop the GOP from putting the ineligible candidates on the ballot.
The attorneys say they don't want to stop the election, but they do want a level playing field.
"We want the election to move forward, and we want the election in the integrity to be upheld and the laws of the State of South Carolina to be upheld and the order of the most powerful court in this state to be abided by and enforced and the rules," said MW Trey Cockrell, III.
" We think the decision the Supreme Court issued last week is very clear. The law is very clear and those candidates they have certified on the primary ballots , should not be on the ballots per South Carolina Supreme Court," explained Jason Turnblad.
The lawyers say the Supreme Court will hear the case, but they haven't been given a date.
Time is of the essence because the primary is 35 days away.
The Florence County Republican Party Chairman, Bill Pickle, says his party has been served with a copy of the lawsuit and will respond soon.
We called the Republican Party's attorney in Columbia for a comment, but he has yet to return our calls.
