2 Beaufort Co. Council candidates ask judge to intervene in primary election. Here’s why
Two Beaufort County Council candidates asked a judge Friday to temporarily stop Tuesday’s voting in their districts because their names were left off ballots used in early voting.
Jean Felix, who heads the Board of Voter Registration and Elections, said Tuesday the county had not been served a paper copy of the complaint and that the election was proceeding as usual.
The temporary restraining order is sought against the South Carolina State Election Commission and Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections.
It was filed by Mike Covert, a candidate for Beaufort County Council District 6, and Shellie West Hodges, who running in District 9
Early voting began June 7 and ended Friday for the primary election on Tuesday.
If approved, the temporary restraining order would affect voting in the District 6 and District 9 races, not the entire election.
The candidates want the election for their races delayed “until such time as a solution to this ballot problem can be made,” court records say.
Covert and Hodges, both Republicans, say in court papers that initial ballots did not show the District 6 and District 9 primary candidates, including Tab Tabernik, Covert’s opponent, and Mark Lawson in District 9, who is running against Hodges.
The two candidates argue in the request for the temporary restraining order that early voters who did not have the chance to vote for the candidates and were denied their constitutional right to vote.
“By all appearances, whatever malfunction which created this issue has been resolved, but there still remains the issue of those who were not allowed a meaningful opportunity to vote,” they say in court papers.
To get a temporary restraining order, Covert and Hodges must show they would suffer irreparable harm if it is not granted. A hearing was expected to be held Monday.
If the election is allowed to continue in District 6 and District 9, Covert and Hodges say, the counted votes will not be an accurate representation of preferences and the result is likely to be overturned because of “the great doubt these faulty ballots have instilled.”
Marie Smalls, the director of the Beaufort County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, told the Beaufort Gazette and Island Packet last week that the problem was isolated to five precincts in Bluffton and Hilton Head. The issue, she added, has been fixed, with the correct ballots now in use. At the time, she said the office had found about 70 ballots that were incorrect.
“The unfortunate thing is — and all I can do is apologize — there is nothing we can do about those who cast the ballots,” Smalls said.
Beaufort County recently approved changes in political boundaries based on new population data. Some of the redistricting information for the Beaufort County Council districts was not updated to voting records, which caused the issue, Smalls said.
This story was originally published June 13, 2022 at 11:10 AM.
