EXCLUSIVE: Some Richland voters misled about GOP primary

More than 200 voters in Richland County mistakenly were told by the beleaguered county elections office that they could not vote absentee in the June Republican primary for state House District 71.

Thousands of voters across the county requested absentee ballots for the June 14 primary. Most of them correctly received letters from the Richland County Voter Registration and Elections office telling them there is no Republican primary for them to vote in, elections director Samuel Selph said.

But 203 voters in House District 71, who are eligible to vote in the county’s sole Republican primary, received those letters by mistake, Selph said.

“We were just trying to be proactive” by informing voters when there were no primaries in their districts, Selph said. “We made a mistake and sent it to some people in District 71, and we corrected that. ... You don’t like for these things to happen, naturally.”

Follow-up letters were sent to those 203 voters apologizing for the mistake. Selph said that voters who already have returned their applications for a primary absentee ballot in that district or who do so in time for the election will receive one.

House District 71, in the northwest corner of the county, features the only race between multiple Republicans for any Richland County local or state office. Incumbent state Rep. Nathan Ballentine is being challenged by Bill Malinowski, a member of County Council.

With no Democratic or third-party challengers up for the seat, that race most likely will be decided in the primary election next month.

District 71 has not had a Republican or Democratic primary in more than 10 years, according to Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the State Election Commission.

As of Wednesday, 451 people in District 71 had requested applications to receive Republican absentee ballots, and 257 had submitted those applications, according to data from the state election agency.

Ballentine and some District 71 voters brought the mistaken letters to the attention of the elections office, Selph said.

“What is so frustrating is everyone talks about we need more people voting and more people participating in the process,” Ballentine said. “And if we continue to have mix-ups or mistakes ... people are just going to sit at home and not participate. And more importantly, they’re going to continue to have a lack of trust in Richland County government.”

Ballentine is a member of the county’s legislative delegation, which created the election commission, which in turn hired Selph and a series of other elections directors who have come under fire.

The county election office was responsible for the 2012 election fiasco that was short on voting machines, left thousands of people waiting in hours-long voting lines and resulted in a lawsuit. Then the commission was widely criticized for lack of transparency in selecting a director and for hiring a candidate that had been investigated for allegations of voting violations. The commission later fired him and hired Selph.

Most recently, the office wrestled with county officials over a denied request for more than $1 million to cover cost overruns this year.

“I’ve questioned them every step of the way,” said Malinowski, who had not heard of the mistaken letters until told Wednesday by a reporter from The State newspaper. “(T)his is just one more example of inefficiency in an office that has been under close scrutiny.

“It’s a shame that we have people that are being paid by the taxpayers that don’t ... pay attention to the details,” Malinowski said.

Because South Carolina voters can vote in only one partisan primary, voters who choose to cast ballots in the District 71 Republican race will not be eligible to vote in the Democratic primaries for any other local or state offices, including the countywide contest for sheriff between two Democrats.

Statewide primaries will be held June 14. The county elections office will mail out absentee ballots until June 10. Absentee ballots will be accepted until June 13.

Selph said he encourages absentee voters to drop off their ballots at the elections office at 2020 Hampton St. in Columbia, rather than mail them in, in case they are not mailed in time to be counted.

“People have plenty of time” to get their absentee voting done, Selph said.

This story was originally published May 11, 2016 at 7:44 PM with the headline "EXCLUSIVE: Some Richland voters misled about GOP primary."