Florence mayor to appeal Democratic Party's decision

Florence Mayor Frank Willis plans to appeal the S.C. Democratic Party’s decision to uphold the primary results that show Stephen J. Wukela leading the incumbent by one vote.

Willis said Tuesday afternoon he’s not sure when the appeal will be filed in 12th Circuit Court, although it will be sooner than the 10 days after the party’s decision, as required by state law. That deadline would fall July 1.

“We don’t have any significant problems with how it was handled,” Willis said of Saturday’s hearing. “We’re certainly disappointed in the results.”

Wukela said the Democratic party made the right decision, which he and his lawyers will argue to uphold.

“I certainly think that the Democratic party conducted a thorough and deliberate process on Saturday,” he said.

Wukela said last week that he was going to abide by the party’s ruling and wouldn’t appeal.

The certified results of a recount in the mayoral primary showed Wukela with 1,469 votes to Willis’ 1,468 — the same results that followed the June 12 review of challenged ballots.

The winner of the primary will likely be Florence’s next mayor because no Republican candidates filed to run for the office.

Willis, who was seeking a new primary, said in a statement that he has received “literally hundreds” of calls from supporters encouraging him to appeal Saturday’s decision.

He said Tuesday he feels like the decision wasn’t made based on the evidence his attorneys submitted into the record.

“Over and over we have heard of people who were either not allowed to vote or were given the wrong instructions about what election they could participate in,” Willis said in his statement.

The state Democratic party’s Board of State Canvassers of Municipal Primaries voted 4-2 to deny the mayor’s protest after an eight-hour hearing. The board consists of six state party executive committee members, one from each congressional district.

The board heard testimony from nine voters who said poll clerks didn’t give them a chance to vote in the city primaries even though they are city residents.

Willis’ attorneys also published affidavits from five voters who said they were able to vote in the city primaries despite the fact they live outside city limits.

They argued as well that elections officials “admittedly counted an illegal vote” for Wukela in certified vote totals. Wukela’s attorneys argued that the ballot was valid and legally cast by a voter who lives in Florence.

Acting Florence County Voter Registration and Elections Director Steve Love testified Saturday that an extra ballot was counted in addition to the five challenged ballots the commission decided to count in the final vote totals.

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

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

If Willis loses, he can’t run as a petition candidate in November because of a pledge he has signed with the Democratic party, former state party Executive Director Joe Werner said last week, before he left to work on a U.S. House race in Pennsylvania.

In addition, the S.C. State Election Commission wouldn’t allow a defeated candidate’s name to be placed on the ballot, based on state law, Werner said.