Florence, state voters deserve better planned, run elections

Unless there are big changes in the way annexation laws operate and election districts are drawn we will continue to have uncertainty and confusion at the polls on election day.

Add to that competing political party primaries, and it gets hard for people to know who they can vote for on Election Day.

That was certainly the case during the recent race for mayor and city council.

Right now, the uncertainty over who will be mayor continues.

But the confusion surrounding that race, magnified by the current one vote margin, shows the problems with the system.

We supported and agree with the earlier decision by Florence City Council to move its elections to the same time as most other statewide races.

But because the since it was a “city election,” it was separate from the other county and state primaries occurring on the same day.

And so it meant that a person voting in one party’s primary on the state and county level could vote in a different party’s primary in the city election.

Despite several stories in the Morning News and an editorial explaining the situation, confusion reigned on Election Day.

Add to that confusion about newly annexed areas of Florence and who could vote, and we ended up with a bad situation.

In any election, there is some amount of confusion.

But we need to find a way to make it easier for voters and poll workers to know where and for whom people can vote.

Right now no matter who ends up being declared the winner in the Florence mayor’s race there will always be concerns.

People get elected to office by close margins all the time.

But a better system is needed so people have trust that things were done in the right way.

Florence wasn’t the only place there was confusion.

It’s an issue the General Assembly needs to address.