When states run primary elections are they paid 100% by the tax payer? Meaning voting booths, etc? And if so, why? Primaries aren't even required by the law or the Constitution, shouldn't the parties pay for a portion of the costs?
I think it varies from state to state. Most states do use taxpayer money, I believe.....I think I heard once that the parties pay for them in South Carolina, for example.
South Carolina used to have party-run and paid for Presidential primaries, but that stopped being the case in 2008, provided that your party received at least 5% of the vote in the last Presidential election. In other words, they wrote the law to pay for just the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries, but not those of other political parties.
Do the Dems and GOP still control the timing of the presidential primaries in SC, or is that now set by the state legislature?
