COLUMBIA, S.C. - South Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Joe Erwin dropped an oath requirement Monday for voters hours before the state's first-in-the-South presidential primary because phones were "ringing off the hook" with complaints.
Voters going to the polls Tuesday were supposed to sign an oath that reads "I consider myself to be a Democrat" - a statement that could have kept independents and even some Republicans at home.
The oath, which absentee voters had been signing, was meant to deter Republicans from stirring up mischief in the Democratic primary. South Carolina doesn't require voters to register with party affiliation.
"We have made the decision, we are dropping the oath," Erwin said. "There's confusion, and confusion is not a good thing."
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