After five months of turmoil and bickering, Atlantic Beach votes to hold special election
Atlantic Beach is one step closer to declaring a mayor after over five months of turmoil, a five hour long meetings and lawsuits regarding the election, including the governor’s office declining to intervene.
The election commission announced Atlantic Beach will hold a special election for mayor. Kenneth McIver, head of the election commission, said the final vote count for the mayoral race was deemed invalid. No date has been set but McIver said it will be held as soon as possible.
The mayoral race is between Josephine Isom and John David Jr., who both sit on the town council.
The decision came after a protest hearing that was conducted Wednesday. It was originally supposed to be held on March 20, but was delayed twice. The first time because the commissioners had personal conflicts were unable to attend and the second time due to a breach in attorney-client confidentiality.
On Nov. 9, two days after the municipal election, Isom requested a protest hearing to determine the validity of 19 contested votes. A protest hearing is held after a candidate protests the results of an election.
Isom said there are 19 voters who do not reside in Atlantic Beach so their votes should not be counted. That number was brought down to 14 during the April 3 meeting.
The election commission found 13 out of 14 did not live in Atlantic Beach and were not authorized to vote.
The election commission authorized the winners of the city council seats. They are Jacqueline Gore, Carla Taylor, Jerry Finny and Sean Splintston.
David said he worries the special election may continue to drag out the lack of mayor in Atlantic Beach.
“Miss Isom and her family protested the first election I had. They protested the second I’m election. I’m quite sure they will protest the third,” David said.
Originally, Isom was declared the unofficial winner following the November election, but after a recount, David was winning by one vote. A few days after the election, the election commission met to certify and count 19 contested ballots. However, the votes were never certified after Mayor Jake Evans fired the entire commission, according to The Sun News.
At the end of November, the town council voted to reinstate the election commission with everyone but the chairperson, Joe Montgomery. Montgomery was fired for participating in prohibited political activity, The Sun News reported.
In January, Atlantic Beach wrote to Gov. Henry McMaster asking that the South Carolina Election Commission take over the town’s voting certification. McMaster’s legal team wrote back, saying, “the Office cannot accommodate your request for Governor McMaster to end this embarrassing episode.”
Horry County election board will handle future Atlantic Beach elections.
David recently took seat on the Atlantic Beach town council, a year after he won the election. There was a special election in January 2023 after council member Jim DeWitt was killed.
David won, but after other town officials questioned David’s residency in Atlantic Beach and the matter was brought to the South Carolina Supreme Court, according to WPDE.
The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled in David’s favor and he was sworn into town council in late January. Isom is also a town council member.
David was involved in another lawsuit against Atlantic Beach as well. In a motion filed Nov. 14, Ian Duggan, David’s lawyer, requested all election materials be “temporarily secured” by a third party until a ruling is made on whether David and voters were disenfranchised by the town’s current leadership.
The South Carolina Supreme Court said they would not hear his case and asked him to take it to a lower court.
