Willis appeals S.C. Democrats’ decision on primary

Florence Mayor Frank Willis has appealed an S.C. Democratic Party board’s decision to deny his protest of this month’s primary results, which show him trailing Stephen J. Wukela by one vote.

Willis said his attorneys filed the appeal with the 12th Circuit Court on Thursday afternoon.

The appeal calls for the court to reverse Saturday’s 4-2 decision of the state Democratic party’s Board of State Canvassers of Municipal Primaries and order a new election.

Wukela said he’s concerned that “protracted litigation” is distracting from the issue of bringing change to Florence, a major point in his campaign.

“We’re going to let the court sort this out,” he said Thursday.

Willis’ appeal states that several votes were illegally cast and should have been rejected by law, which would cause the primary results to be “rendered doubtful.”

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 appeal states that five voters outside city limits were erroneously allowed to vote in the city’s primaries. Attorneys for Willis published affidavits from those five voters during Saturday’s hearing.

The appeal cites the S.C. Supreme Court’s reversal of Dukes v. Redmond. In the 2004 case, Johnsonville City Councilman Steve Dukes appealed the denial of his protest of the 2002 Johnsonville mayoral election, which he lost to incumbent Tom Redmond by three votes.

The court ordered a new election after it concluded that three votes, including two cast by a couple living just outside city limits, were cast illegally. In the end, Dukes was elected mayor.

In addition, Willis’ attorneys have argued that at least nine voters weren’t allowed to vote in Florence’s city primaries even though they are city residents.

They also say at least 10 voters weren’t allowed to vote in the Democratic city primary because they voted in the Republican federal, state and county primaries. Florence city voters completed two separate ballots and could “split” their vote between parties if they wished.

The appeal also argues that the elections commission accidentally included a city ballot that shouldn’t have been counted in certified vote totals.

Willis’ attorneys said the voter, a Florence resident who had been registered to vote in Lake City, didn’t follow the proper procedure to cast a Florence city primary ballot. Wukela’s campaign has argued that the voter lived in Florence and that her ballot was valid and legal.

The appeal also charges that several city residents voted at precincts other than the ones where they were registered.

It states that city residents on Westview Drive were directed to vote at another precinct because the Delmae No. 2 precinct had no city ballots.

Willis’ attorneys also wrote that a voter moved from one city precinct to another, but voted in the precinct where she no longer lived.