Who can vote next month?

By Seanna Adcox | Editor-in-chief

By Jessica Holdman

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham amassed power and influence over more than three decades in Congress, but financial disclosures show he didn't use his access to amass personal wealth. According to his filing in May, he invested in mutual funds and U.S. treasury securities. Unlike others on Capitol Hill, he did not own individual stocks. As one financial writer put it, his portfolio was “remarkably ordinary.”

By Jessica Holdman

Voting begins Aug. 5 — exactly three weeks from yesterday — to determine who will replace the late Sen. Lindsey Graham as the GOP nominee on November’s ballot. The tight timeframe creates a conflict with federal law. One big question was settled yesterday: People who voted in last month's Democratic primary can't participate. The state Election Commission’s decision came down to this: The same voters who helped decide the Democratic nominee can’t also decide the Republican nominee.

But I will point out that only 25% of registered voters participated in either party’s primary next month. That means a lot of people who didn’t exercise their right to vote for whatever reason need to get informed and vote. There won’t be time for any candidate to campaign much.

By Dray Orion

This commentary is from a disabled veteran who writes that “South Carolina needs to have an honest conversation about medical cannabis, especially for veterans.”

To provide more context: The legislation the author references has passed the Senate twice in the last five years, most recently in February 2024, but died in the House. It was reintroduced ahead of the 2025 session but died without any debate when the regular session ended in May. In the last two years, the debate has been over regulating edibles infused with hemp-derived THC. That effort also failed last month. When legislators last debated medical marijuana, there were questions about the federal government’s plans. So far, federal decisions haven’t affected South Carolina. The Trump administration’s drug classification downgrade in April applied only to state-licensed medical marijuana products in states that have legalized medicinal use. And, obviously, South Carolina has not done so.

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