S.C. Democratic Party board denies Florence mayor’s protest

COLUMBIA — A state Democratic Party board has denied Florence Mayor Frank Willis’ protest of the June 10 mayoral primary and has upheld the certified election results, with Stephen J. Wukela the winner by one vote.

“Hundreds of people said to me, ‘I’m the one vote that made the difference,’ and the fact of the matter is all of them are the one vote that made the difference,” Wukela said.

Willis said he hasn’t decided whether he will appeal the ruling. His campaign was unsure whether the S.C. Supreme Court would be the body to hear such an appeal.

“I’ve had an opportunity not many people get, and I’ve had 13 years of it, so I’m very grateful for that,” said Willis, who was seeking a fourth term.
Wukela said earlier this week that he planned to abide by Saturday’s ruling.

The state Democratic Party’s Board of State Canvassers of Municipal Primaries met for eight hours Saturday to hear Willis’ protest. The board consists of six state party executive committee members, one from each congressional district.

The mayor was seeking another primary election against Wukela, who finished ahead of Willis by one vote, according to certified results following the June 12 recount.

Wukela will likely be Florence’s next mayor because no Republican candidates filed to run for the office.

Willis said his attorneys filed the protest around midday Wednesday. He had two days to protest following a Monday recount that lasted four hours.

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

Willis’ attorney Tim Rogers told the board Saturday that the primary was riddled with confusion.

Steve Wukela Jr., representing his son, said city council created that confusion when it changed the elections date from May to November, giving council members and the mayor an additional 1½ years in office.

Willis’ protest alleges that the Florence County Election Commission “admittedly counted an illegal vote” for Wukela in certified vote totals.

The voter in question testified Saturday. Kim McDowell, a Florence police officer since 2003, said she’d registered to vote in Lake City in 2000. She said she’d signed a lease in April 2007, when she moved to Florence.

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

After the election’s 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.

Willis’ campaign said the voter didn’t follow the proper procedure on the election day. State law allows a voter to vote a failsafe ballot — for federal, statewide and countywide offices — if he or she moves to a different precinct within the same county. A voter also can cast a full ballot after moving if he or she updates her voter registration information at the county voter registration offices on an election day.

Wukela’s campaign argued that McDowell in fact lived in Florence and that her ballot was valid and legal.

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.

Steve Wukela Jr. called those questioned votes “post-election provisional ballots” and that any challenges should have been made at the time of voting. One Florence city official whose department maintains city maps said poll clerks initially told him he didn’t live within city limits.

Urban Planning and Development Director Phillip Lookadoo said he worked with county elections officials to ensure voter information was updated two years ago, when he first encountered the problem at his polling place.

Willis’ protest also states that poll workers used out-of-date electoral maps that didn’t reflect homes that have been annexed into the city.

Lookadoo said his department has less than a week to let the election commission know of an annexation to the city.

“We did not drop the ball,” he told Steve Wukela Jr.

Steve Wukela Jr. said his son is a real Democrat and that Willis has donated to the campaigns of President George Bush and state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, whom the younger Wukela ran against four years ago.

Rogers, Willis’ attorney, also called himself a strong Democrat during his closing statements.

“For all the reasons that’s important, none is more important than standing tall and standing strong for a fair and lawful election every single time,” Rogers said.

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

Steve Wukela Jr. said Republican voters were encouraged to “go over” and vote in the city’s Democratic primary.

“We gave (the Willis campaign) all the handicaps and we still beat ’em by one vote,” he said in his closing statements.

Willis’ protest also charged that poll workers told some “split-ballot” voters that they couldn’t vote in the Democratic mayoral primary if they voted Republican in the other contests. Some of those “split-ballot” voters were the city residents who said they weren’t allowed to vote in the city primaries.

“Because I’m Republican doesn’t mean I’m not concerned about who’s mayor, whether Republican or Democrat,” said Frances Sims, who said poll clerks told her she lived outside the city.