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Article published Oct 21, 2003
Democrats need cash for primary

JENNIFER HOLLAND
Associated Press

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina Democrats are scrambling to finance the first-in-the-South Democratic presidential primary, selling voter lists, writing personal checks and even considering -- briefly -- placing corporate logos on ballots.The cash-strapped state party estimates it will cost $500,000 to stage the Feb. 3 contest, but three months out, officials say they have only a third of the amount and are working furiously to come up with the rest.Party Chairman Joe Erwin and other Democrats continue to offer assurances that they will be able to stage the primary, but the money woes as well as the challenge of recruiting volunteer poll workers and relying on paper ballots have raised doubts about whether they can pull it off.South Carolina and Utah are the only states where the Democratic Party, rather than the state government, must foot the bill for presidential primaries in 2004."We're trying to succeed in an underdog situation where we don't have the resources that the other side had," said Erwin, who assumed the chairmanship in May.An August fund-raiser collected nearly $83,000, but much of the money has been used to pay for day-to-day operations. The party is selling access to a database of state Democratic voters' demographics, voting history and contact information for $35,000, far less than what Iowa charges at $65,000 or New Hampshire's price of $50,000.Erwin acknowledged that he hasdipped into his personal bank account to support the party, although he denies it was to bail the group out of any last-minute financial crunch."I've donated money to elections and to parties and organizations every year for as long as I can remember," he said. "We've not had any trouble making payroll."Dick Harpootlian, the former state party chairman, and Carol Khare, vice chairwoman of the state party and a member of the Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws panel, also said they have donated to the state party."A number of us have written checks. We believe it's an extraordinary opportunity for South Carolina," Harpootlian said.Erwin, an advertising executive, has backed off the idea of corporate logos on ballots, but he still thinks businesses would want to advertise with South Carolina Democrats.Republicans see their rivals scraping to get by and wonder whether the contest will occur."Clearly, they don't have the financing available to put on this primary, and it looks like they're resorting to anything that they could possibly come up with to try and fund this primary. It looks like it's going to be some kind of circus," said Luke Byars, executive director of the South Carolina Republican Party.Brent Weaver, state Democratic Party treasurer, said his group is seeking donations but won't go into debt nor take out a loan to pull off the primary."I have no doubt we'll be able to raise the funds to cover this primary just by good old hard work," Weaver said.Some county chairmen have complained about the logistics involved in the party's plan to rely on paper ballots, old-fashioned ballot boxes and 6,000 volunteer poll workers -- all designed to keep primary costs down.Other county officials are reluctant to open all 2,000 polling sites, saying they want to combine precincts where there are relatively few Democrats if such a plan passes legal muster. However, in 2000, Democrats sued Republicans to open all primary polling sites.Richard Johnson Jr., of Aiken County, a member of the state party's executive committee, said he hopes his colleagues get up to speed."It might look gloomy to some now, but it's going to take place. We're going to do it. It has to be done. You don't have a choice, really," Johnson said.