We have been promising "better" candidates to help heal our democracy. Here are 7 candidates in races across South Carolina that will do just that. They are accomplished and passionate. They have signed the forward pledge to improve our electoral system and represent their voters with integrity, truth, and persistence. But they need your support. Can you volunteer a few hours to make phone calls or other necessary campaign duties? Can you donate $25? $100? It doesn't take a lot to make significant change in our state politics. And, with your help this is a great start.

The State, 
June 6, 2024

Opinion: Four election reforms that would expand voter choice and chip away at incumbency

BY CHUCK NEWTON AND BOB HOOPER

Elected officials always seem happy to deal with voting reform — the systems and processes through which we cast votes. But they avoid electoral reform. Legislators just don’t want to deal with the issue of who we get to vote for — a far more important matter.

Once elected, officials mostly want to stay elected. And they do, most of the time, because the electoral systems in most states and nationally favor incumbents.

The Council of State Governments studied incumbency after the 2022 elections. Of the winners, 67% were incumbents; only 4% of incumbents lost a competitive race. Party didn’t matter. Republican incumbents won 85% of their races, Democratic incumbents 83%. Incumbent independents won 75% of their races, and incumbents won in a whopping 91% of nonpartisan contests.

This has been the case overwhelmingly in Congress dating back to at least 1964, according to opensecrets.org. Once you’re in, you’re in.

Why is incumbency such an advantage? Political party backing, name recognition and fundraising. But the most significant edge is the redistricting process: In most of the U.S., officeholders get to choose their voters instead of the other way around.

According to the Brennan Center for Justice, more independent commissions and courts drew congressional districts than ever before in the latest redistricting cycle, but congressional districts were drawn wholly or mostly along party lines in 26 states, providing great opportunity for political bias and gerrymandering across the U.S.

Redistricting, while the largest factor, is not the only thing protecting incumbency. The dominance of two primary political parties carries huge weight, mostly by restricting voter choice. Open primaries, in which voters vote for candidates regardless of party, have been effective in broadening choice somewhat. While generally slow to adopt reforms, South Carolina is ahead of the pack, permitting voters to cast a vote in any party’s primary. But nationally, only 20 states permit open primaries for congressional and state-level offices.

Third parties are another alternative, but only a few qualify for ballot access. To qualify for ballot placement, a party must typically meet stringent requirements set by state legislatures. The roadblocks — legislatively inspired — are significant.

Reforms would expand voter choice and perhaps chip away at the granite wall of incumbency.

Instant-runoff voting (also known as ranked choice voting) has the potential to attract a wider swath of candidates, and the ability to limit the power of narrow-base candidates. It allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference: first, second, third and so forth. That produces greater choice for voters, provides for more representative outcomes and serves to discourage negative campaigning. There is also an economic benefit since it eliminates the need for runoff elections and their associated costs.

None of these alternatives — independent redistricting, open primaries, third parties or instant-runoff voting — have received much support by those who get to decide. But the tide may be changing. Is South Carolina shifting with it?

Last October, the Forward Party of SC qualified for ballot access; the relatively new third party has also qualified in Colorado, Florida and Utah and hopes to be on ballots in all 50 states by 2025. And while the SC House didn’t act on it, lawmakers held a hearing last session on H.4022, which would have allowed municipal instant-runoff voting.

A tally on Ballotpedia shows 17 states use some form of instant-runoff voting and another state authorizes it but does not use it while 10 ban it and 22 don’t address it with any laws. The savings of using instant-runoff voting could be substantial. The Fiscal Policy Institute estimates the savings in New York City alone would be $13 million.

There is the potential for a great deal more political change. The time is right. According to Gallup, more voters have identified as independents than as either Republicans or Democrats since 2012. In April, 45% of those polled identified as independents, 27% as Republicans and 25% as Democrats.

Will our legislators respond at last?

Newton is a Realtor. Hooper is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and a retired businessman. Both are members of the Beaufort County Committee of the Forward Party; Newton chairs it.

The South Carolina Forward Party's inaugural state convention was held May 4, 2024, at the Hyatt Place Hotel in Columbia, SC. 

For more information:
Chuck Newton
843.838.1888
[email protected]

December 18, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FIVE BEAUFORT COUNTY RESIDENTS APPOINTED
TO NEW FORWARD PARTY COUNTY COMMITTEE

* * *

New Party Focused On Electoral Reforms To “Restore Trust In America”

* * *

BEAUFORT COUNTY COMMITTEE ONE OF 14 NOW ORGANIZED IN SC,
IN COUNTIES REPRESENTING SOME 80% OF REGISTERED VOTERS

    BEAUFORT SC, DEC 12 – Five county residents have been appointed members of the Beaufort County Forward Party Committee, and will lead the party’s organizing and electoral activities in Beaufort County.

    Named to the Beaufort County Committee were David Atwell, Hilton Head; Robert Hooper, Bluffton; William Griffith, Ladys Island; Najmah Thomas, from St. Helena; and Charles Newton, also of St. Helena, who will serve as interim chairperson.

“The Forward Party has emerged as a direct result of the polarization in the U.S. political system, at all levels,” said Newton.

    “More voters today describe themselves as ‘Independent” than ever before –49% of the electorate according to a Gallup poll in April – a number equal to the total of those who say they are Republicans or Democrats.

    “These centrist, independent voters, tired of politics as usual and lack of choice at election time, are looking for a home. The Forward Party is it,” Newton said.

    The party is organizing in all 46 SC counties, and to date, has committees in 14 counties representing 80% of the SC population. Other counties in which the party is active include Greenville, Spartanburg, Lexington, York, Lancaster, Aiken, Edgefield, Richland, Florence, Horry, Georgetown, Berkeley and Charleston.

    The Forward Party, first organized nationally in 2021, gained ballot access in SC in October. The Party will not run a presidential candidate in 2024, but will instead focus on local contests and statewide electoral issues. The Party seeks fundamental reform to restore trust in states’ electoral processes, including adoption of ranked-choice voting, open primaries and independent redistricting beyond the control of elected legislatures.

-end-

Websites:
https://www.forwardparty.com/
https://www.southcarolinaforwardparty.com/

Fed up with toxic politics? Hey, us too!

At Forward South Carolina, we are turning our frustration into strategic action - and we need your help!

The work of building a different kind of political party is no easy task, but we're blessed with a talented and thoughtful community of volunteers, organizers and leaders. If you'd like to help grow this movement and meet some great people while you're at it, we'd love to have you join us. Sign up to volunteer and you'll receive more information on how you can get involved.

This is Clint, by the way, a Forward South Carolina State Lead and our human mascot! You can always count on him for a good laugh, and a nice dose of optimism and encouragement. He embodies the Forward SC way - easygoing, hardworking, and fun!

If you’re like me, while standing in the voting booth, you thought you were choosing the candidates that you wanted to represent you. But I’ve discovered too late in life that it was all an illusion… the illusion of
electoral choice that the two major parties hope never dawns on us.

But it is quite clear to me now that our political system has been hijacked and rigged over the years by both of the two major parties, Democrats and Republicans. And I’m not suggesting that they are evil
people. They aren’t. They are rational human beings responding to the incentives in front of them… incentives that have become increasingly perverse as the years roll by.