Horry County to request state probe following primary runoff ballot glitch
Horry County will ask for a state investigation into how more than 1,300 absentee Republican voters got wrong ballots just days ahead of a June primary runoff that determined the council’s top position.
Officials next week are set to draft a resolution requesting the state Election Commission and S.C. Law Enforcement Division launch the inquiry as part of what could be a broader request to overhaul the state’s elections system.
“Our people in our county need to be able to know who they voted for and how those tallies are coming in,” councilman Al Allen said Tuesday.
Mark Lazarus, who ran the County Council from 2013 through 2018, lost a June 28 runoff to council chairman Johnny Gardner by 240 votes. But he questioned those results because 1,377 Republicans voters got Democratic absentee ballots ahead of Election Day.
County election officials have blamed the error on the “printing and mailing process” from Sun Solutions, a West Columbia-based printer responsible for producing them.
He went to the Horry County GOP for an appeal after county election officials declined to hear his concerns.
Allen wants officials to examine how only a pocket of voters in Horry County received mislabeled ballots and whether Sun Solutions has ties to any organizations within the county.
“These are things that can be investigated and can be found out,” he said.
The council will start working on a resolution during an Aug. 22 subcommittee meeting so it can appear as an action item in September.
“Election integrity is very important to everyone on this council and everybody involved in voting. It’s a big deal, it’s a serious deal,” Gardner said.
Election protest
Lazarus was expected to make his case at a July 7 meeting of the Horry County GOP, but its executive committee tossed his appeal on a 40-5 vote. The committee cited a 1962 state law requiring protests in elections of county officers be submitted to party chairs “not later than noon Monday” after a race is certified. In Lazarus’ case, that would have been July 4.
Lazarus said he would turn to the state GOP for its ruling, but soon dropped plans for an appeal and accepted the outcome.
Lazarus told The Sun News Tuesday he is pleased that county leaders are pressing for answers, but called the Horry County GOP’s decision not to hear him out “personal.”
“Why all of the sudden did they have this revelation there was something wrong that we brought to light to them? Was it because they had such disdain for me?” he said. “It puts everybody in an awkward position, but I hope they find out what happened.”
Despite the Horry County GOP’s refusal to hear Lazarus’ complaint, the executive committee appeared to philosophically agree with him — 37 members put their name to an Aug. 1 resolution demanding a forensic audit of the runoff.
“There was a significant election error that occurred in the runoff election,” party chairman Roger Slagle told the council Tuesday.
This story was originally published August 16, 2022 at 8:29 PM.