Pancakes & Policy: February 1st
Hot off the griddle! Welcome to Pancakes & Policy, Be The Ones’ new weekly newsletter - your Saturday morning dose of democracy. Quick, digestible, and stacked with what you need to know about what's happening in the South Carolina State House.
📌 Want to dive deeper into our priorities and plans? Read more here
Grab a fork, let's dig in.🍴
📣 Pancakes & Policy: What We’re Watching at the State House: 2026
The 2026 legislative session opened with urgency - especially around renewed efforts to close South Carolina’s primaries. While this debate isn’t new, the timing and intensity signal how high the stakes feel right now, particularly as the state heads into important state and local elections this year.
South Carolina is currently an open primary state, meaning voters don’t register by party and can choose which primary to vote in. Proposals to change that system—and broader debates about election administration—are moving quickly. Here’s what we’re tracking and why it matters.
🗳 OPEN vs. CLOSED PRIMARIES
Bills H.3643 and H.3310 were recently taken up by the House Judiciary Subcommittee. Much of the testimony in support of closing primaries was partisan in nature and lacked factual grounding.
Dylan Gunnels, Advocacy & Community Organizing Director for Be The Ones provided testimony focused on what often gets left out of these conversations: voter access, administrative realities, and the real-world consequences these changes would have for millions of South Carolinians.
Closing primaries would fundamentally alter how voters participate in elections and place new burdens on election administrators—without clear evidence that it would solve existing problems. We’ll be digging deeper into this issue in the coming weeks and sharing more resources to help folks understand what’s at stake.
As of February 1st, neither H.3643 or H.3310 moved out of the subcommittee or received a vote. We will keep you posted on when these bills will be back up for deliberation.
🎥 In the meantime, watch Dylan’s 2 minute testimony by clicking here.
👉 Want to learn more about primaries, the history and importance of Open Primaries, watch this conversation we hosted in March 2024 David Thornburgh (Chair, Ballot PA), Jeremy Gruber (Senior Vice President, Open Primaries), and Dariel Cruz Rodriguez (Co-Founder, Students For Open Primaries & Organizer).
📅 ELECTION CALENDAR BILLS
South Carolina is one of only four states without a standardized election calendar - hence the saying that “almost every Tuesday is Election Day” here.
And in recent years, that has been almost literally true:
In 2025, 40 of 52 Tuesdays were election days
In 2024, 44 Tuesdays.
In 2023, 43 Tuesdays.
Bills S.37 and S.38 aim to change that by creating a standardized election calendar - a schedule for municipal and special elections. Both of these bills moved favorably out of the Senate in the 2025 session and are awaiting hearings and votes in the House Judiciary Subcommittee.
Be The Ones strongly supports these bills. A predictable election calendar would reduce voter confusion, ease administrative strain on local election offices, and increase participation. We’re actively working to move these bills to a vote in the House and get them across the finish line before the session ends in May.
🎤 LOCAL ADVOCACY IN ACTION: CHARLESTON COUNTY COUNCIL
While January brought heavy national headlines and federal-level organizing, we were reminded—once again—of the power of local advocacy. A recent Charleston County Council meeting drew strong public turnout around a proposed grant funding decision that could potentially include funding for ICE.
That meeting was a clear example of how local decisions have immediate, tangible impacts on our communities. Showing up in these rooms matters. What happens at the county or city level often affects people’s daily lives far more directly than what’s happening in Washington.
📍 WHY IT MATTERS
When national news feels overwhelming, it’s easy to feel disconnected or powerless. But the truth is this: local engagement matters—deeply. South Carolinians have real power at the local and state level, and it needs our attention.
Be The Ones will continue showing up, tracking these bills, testifying when it counts, and breaking things down in plain language so more people can engage with confidence.
👉 If you want to plug in, learn more, or build your advocacy skills, we offer trainings, guides, and resources to help you do just that. Email our Advocay & Community Organizing Director, Dylan Gunnels to learn more and let’s chat: dylan@betheones.org
Be The Ones is a nonpartisan grassroots organization building healthier communities, a more equitable democracy, and expanding power by removing barriers to local civic participation across the South Carolina.