Richland elections director says he didn’t resign. With board fired, confusion reigns
Richland County elections director Rokey Suleman never resigned from his position, he says, despite statements from the former election board chairwoman saying that he did.
Now, the only thing that’s certain about the leadership of the county elections office is that it’s confusing, as the entire elections board was fired last week by S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster and Suleman’s status is unclear.
On Feb. 11, former election board chairwoman Jane Emerson told The State newspaper that Suleman had resigned over the previous weekend. Her announcement came after reports that the county elections office had failed to count more than 1,000 votes in November’s election.
At the time, Emerson told The State, “I think Rokey is a smart guy who thought it would be better to get out of the way and let us move on.”
Suleman did not respond to phone calls from The State at that time.
But on Monday, in an email to the Richland County legislative delegation obtained by The State, Suleman insists he never actually quit.
“At no time did I submit a letter of resignation to the Board,” Suleman wrote in an email to a delegation staff member, which was forwarded to the 17-member delegation of state senators and House members representing Richland County. That delegation is responsible for appointing the county elections board, which is, in turn, responsible for hiring and firing the elections director.
In actuality, Suleman wrote, he and board member Pete Kennedy discussed the possibility of Suleman’s resignation, dependent on whether Suleman would be paid the balance of his salary and personal leave days through the remainder of his two-year contract.
Kennedy had told Suleman that the elections board was not likely to renew his contract after it expired April 30, Suleman wrote. Suleman said he was concerned about being able to pay for an upcoming outpatient treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder if his contract were not renewed.
Kennedy told Suleman that “in order to prevent a ‘lame duck’ status and to ease transition in the agency, the Board would pay me the balance of my contract, including all applicable leave, in a lump sum,” Suleman wrote.
Suleman and Emerson both signed a document that promised Suleman would be paid the balance of his salary and personal leave “in consideration of early release from his contract.” A copy of that document also was obtained by The State.
Emerson told The State on Monday that the document “is meant to say that, you know, let’s just call it quits now, but on his terms. He gets the payout.”
That document, however, does not constitute a letter of resignation, according to Suleman. And that document was never approved by the full board, he said.
“I did not submit a resignation specifically because I was concerned that if I unilaterally resigned without an agreement ratified by the Board regarding the payout that I would receive nothing from the Board,” Suleman wrote. “I was concerned that the Board chair was acting without the full approval of the Board and that this could invalidate the agreement. This fear appears to be founded as the Board did not discuss the agreement in executive session nor did they vote to accept it. Since the full Board did not act on the document, I have been advised that it is not in effect.”
Now, Suleman told the legislative delegation, Richland County’s human resources director has said the county cannot grant him a lump sum payment because he has not resigned and because the full elections board did not approve his payout.
However, there is no sitting elections board to now grant Suleman’s resignation or payment.
“Without a payout as intended by the Board, I assume that I will work out the remainder of my contract,” Suleman wrote.
Suleman indicated in the email that he is willing to resign as long as he is assured a payout of his contract.
Suleman did not respond to a message left by The State on Monday morning.
The confusion over his status as director is the latest chapter in a saga of elections office dysfunction.
The initial announcement of Suleman’s resignation was followed two days later, Feb. 13, by a chaotic meeting of the elections board, during which board member Shirley Mack both questioned whether the board must vote to accept Suleman’s resignation (Emerson said a vote was not necessary) and sparred with state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, D-Richland, who called the board incompetent.
A day later, McMaster swept all four board members from their seats, firing them for “continued misconduct and neglect of duty by board members through a series of elections and fiascos.”
In the immediate aftermath, it was unclear how the elections office would proceed with finding a new director without a board to hire one.
Suleman was hired by the Richland County elections board in 2017. He earned a $93,000 annual salary as of July 2018.
A member of American MENSA, an organization for high-IQ individuals, Suleman formerly directed and consulted on elections in Washington, D.C., as well as across the nation and the world, including in Afghanistan and Montenegro. In Suleman’s email to the Richland County legislative delegation, he said his PTSD stems from surviving a terror attack while working in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2014.
Emerson, the former board chairwoman, told The State on Monday that she believed Suleman had actually resigned at the time she originally provided the information to The State and announced it at the elections board meeting.
“We can’t do anything now. We’re not on the board, so it’s completely out of our hands,” Emerson said.
Kennedy echoed the sentiment.
“Because we can’t get any action from the county, it’s turning into this. So it’s going to be another zoo,” he said.
Kennedy added that despite the leadership upheaval and confusion, the elections office remains in good hands.
Thad Hall, the deputy elections director, “is absolutely qualified to run the agency,” Kennedy said. “His management team, with a couple of minor tweaks, is capable of doing their job.”
Hall did not return a message left by The State on Monday afternoon.
This story was originally published February 25, 2019 at 4:18 PM.
