Conservatives Collecting Petition Signatures This Wednesday

As the deadline for petition candidates to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot approaches, a local group is holding an event aimed at helping those candidates.

The Conservatives of the Upstate will hold an “Operation Lost Vote” event this Wednesday at the Pickens Jockey Lot flea market.

The group will be collecting signatures for petition candidates from 6 am-noon, according to Johnnelle Raines, acting president of the Conservatives of the Upstate.

The group will be set up at Table 189 at the Jockey Lot.

When Raines spoke to Patch on Sunday, she said that County Council candidate Kevin Link, Senate Candidate Rex Rice and Sheriff candidates Stan Whitten and Tim Morgan had given her petitions for the Wednesday event.

“These are all Pickens County candidates,” Raines said.

She said the candidates should not have been thrown off ballots due to a “ridiculous technicality.”

The legal decision robbed voters and candidates of their rights, she said.

“It’s our right to have a choice,” Raines said. “It’s in the Constitution. ‘All elections shall be free and open, and every inhabitant of this State possessing the qualifications provided for in this Constitution shall have an equal right to elect officers and be elected to fill public office.’

“This is something we need to do for them, whether you’re going to vote for them or not,” Raines said. “Some of them I’m not personally going to vote for in November, but I feel like they have a right to run and be on the ballot and I’m going to support their rights.”

The Conservatives of the Upstate will also be registering people to vote during the event Wednesday.

Elections officials have given Raines the forms needed to register people to vote. Residents can either take those forms to the county Registrations and Elections office or the COTU can take the forms for them, she said.

She said those registering will not have to show a Driver’s License or other form of ID when registering, but will have to present a license or other proof of address when voting.

She hopes that Wednesday’s event will get a big turnout.

“A lot of people go through the flea market, so they’re already there,” Raines said. “It’s not going to take but a second for them to sign the petition. It’s a good opportunity to get some signatures for these guys.”

Raines said that citizens need to be involved in the election cycle this year.

“I think this is the most important election year ever,” she said. “I don’t remember anything being more important than these things right now. People need to get involved, quit watching American Idol, get active and watch what’s going on.

“Things are just not going in the direction our country needs to go right now,” she continued. “I’m just really concerned about that and we need to have free, open elections as part of that.”