Willis protests primary, seeks new election

Florence Mayor Frank Willis’ attorney has filed a protest asking for a new Democratic primary between the incumbent and Florence attorney Stephen J. Wukela.

The Florence municipal and state Democratic parties received the protest about 5 p.m. Friday. The protest alleges the Florence County Election Commission “admittedly counted an illegal vote” for Wukela in certified vote totals.

“No. 1, we hope that ... the recount will be cleared up and that ballot won’t be counted,” Willis said.

The recount will take place at 9 a.m. Monday at the former Florence County Library.

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Wukela retained his one-vote lead after challenged ballots were counted Thursday. Wukela now has 1,469 votes, and Willis has 1,468. The winner of the primary will be the next mayor because no Republican candidates filed to run for the office.

Willis’ protest also states that some city residents weren’t allowed to vote in the mayoral race while some unqualified voters cast ballots in the primary.

City residents cast two ballots in the election — one ballot for the city election and another for all other contests. They also could vote Republican in one primary and Democratic in the other, if they wished.

Willis’ protest charges that poll workers told many “split-ballot” voters that they couldn’t vote in the Democratic mayoral primary if they voted Republican in the other contests.

It also states that poll workers might have used electoral maps that hadn’t been updated to reflect households that have been annexed into the city.

The ballot Willis wants thrown out was submitted by a voter who had recently moved from Lake City to Florence, according to the protest.

The commission had voted to accept that voter’s failsafe ballot for the U.S. Senate primary.

A voter can vote a failsafe ballot — for federal, statewide and countywide offices — if he or she moves to a different precinct within the same county.

But the commission also counted a city ballot along with the failsafe ballot and then certified the results.

Among the challenged ballots, two envelopes contained two ballots each, although elections officials don’t know which voter cast those ballots, said acting Florence County Voter Registration and Elections Commission Director Steve Love.

Wukela’s campaign has said elections officials can’t determine which ballot is the one in question because the challenged votes became anonymous when they were unsealed and shuffled before counting.

“I believe in the importance of secret ballots, and I believe the courts will protect the anonymity of that process,” Wukela said.

Love said he didn’t know whether the voter had gone to the county voter registration offices to re-register in her new precinct and vote a full ballot. A voter can do so on the election day, according to the S.C. State Election Commission’s Web site.

After the results had been certified, county elections commission chairman James Tanner said officials couldn’t decertify the results.

In all, two city ballots were among the challenged ballots.

A ballot for Willis had been challenged by attorney Steve Wukela Jr., the candidate’s father, according to Willis’ protest. That vote had been expected to cause a tie, which would have triggered a new primary.

The elections commission determined the precinct manager had followed proper procedure regarding the ballot, however, and counted the vote.

Ruth Smith, Florence municipal Democratic party chairwoman, said the commission hopes to decide by Monday whether it will hear Willis’ protest or request for the state Democratic party’s executive committee to conduct the hearing.