Atlantic Beach voters turned out to the polls last November to fill town council seats and to also decide between two people running for mayor, incumbent Irene Armstrong and challenger, Retha Pierce.
As of Friday, Horry County elections director, Sandy Martin, said she continues to wait on the town's attorney, Amanda Bailey, to contact her about holding the new election.
Martin said she called Bailey Friday morning to find out exactly when the mayor's seat was vacated, but as of this posting, Martin said Bailey had not returned her call.
Martin said she needs to know the exact date of the mayor's vacancy before she can set the date for a new election.
Martin said state law requires that 13 Tuesdays must pass before the town can hold a new election and without the exact date from the town, Martin cannot legally hold the election.
Challenger Pierce defeated Armstrong by one vote after the town's election commission certified the final vote count in November.
Armstrong filed an appeal of the election results, and Pierce filed an appeal against the election commission's decision to hold a new election.
The 15th Judicial Circuit's chief administrative judge, Michael Baxley heard Armstrong and Pierce's appeals in March.
Baxley upheld the election commission's decision to hold a new election, and also ordered that the county election commission oversee the new election.
Baxley also ordered that candidate filings come open again, which would allow for new mayoral candidates to run.
Days following the hearing in March, State Law Enforcement Division agents arrested Armstrong and charged her with three counts of elections bribery and two counts of misconduct in office.
Investigators said Armstrong bought three votes in the November election for $30; two votes for herself, and one vote for her brother, town councilman Jake Evans.
In December, Horry County police arrested Retha Pierce and charged her with resisting arrest and reckless driving following a traffic stop Christmas night.
In February, an Horry County grand jury indicted Pierce on the resisting arrest charge.
In April, the solicitor's office offered Pierce a plea deal on the resisting arrest charge, but Pierce refused the plea offer.
The offer would have allowed Pierce to plead guilty to the charge in exchange for a $500 or 30 days in jail.
Pierce decided she'd let a jury decide the case against her.
Martin said she's ready to conduct the new election as soon as the town's attorney contacts her with a date.
You can count on News13 to continue to follow this story as details become available.
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