SC GOP Senate leader seeks Election Commission oversight

FILE – House Speaker Jay Lucas, R-Hartsville, left, talks to Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield, right, before a meeting over a Santee Cooper overhaul bill on Tuesday, June, 1, 2021, in Columbia, S.C. The chances of having early voting in upcoming elections in South Carolina appears to be dying after the state House and governor accused the Senate of a power grab. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The leader of South Carolina’s Senate Republicans is warning that failing to create a system for oversight of gubernatorial appointees to the state’s elections board could mean catastrophic consequences for the state’s future balloting. Sen. Shane Massey spoke with The Associated Press on Friday, a day after the chances of having true early voting in upcoming elections in South Carolina appeared to be near death. Both chambers have unanimously passed a reform bill. But Massed pushed for a provision that would give senators oversight on the entire Election Commission. Other Republicans, including House Speaker Jay Lucas and Gov. Henry McMaster, oppose that provision.