Former longtime Richland councilwoman accused of intimidating Lower Richland voters
Bernice Scott, an influential force in Lower Richland politics and a former longtime Richland County councilwoman, is accused of intimidating voters at an Eastover polling site during last week’s primary election.
A Richland County Council candidate and leaders of the Lower Richland NAACP accuse Scott of inappropriately interacting with voters during the primary election.
Scott said she has never intimidated voters. “I know the rules up and down, and I would never do anything to jeopardize the trust that people have in me.”
The intimidation accusations came out of a chaotic voting day in Richland County that was marred by a severe shortage of poll workers, confusion over polling locations, complaints of incorrect ballots and hours-long waits for many voters across the county.
Jackie Bush, a candidate for the County Council District 10 seat that represents part of Lower Richland, has filed a formal protest of last Tuesday’s primary results for the district, in part citing Scott’s behavior at a voting site as a reason the results should be thrown out. Bush accused Scott of getting into a voter’s car, of telling people who to vote for and of “bad mouthing my name.”
Bush also noted that some voters were confused about where to vote and that the power went out at one Lower Richland voting place. Efforts by The State to reach Bush were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Bush finished third in the Council District 10 primary. Incumbent Councilwoman Dalhi Myers, who finished second, will face challenger Cheryl English in a runoff election next Tuesday, June 23.
The Richland County Democratic Party will conduct a protest hearing Thursday morning.
Scott previously served on Richland County Council for 20 years before her son-in-law, Kelvin Washington, took over the District 10 seat in 2008. Four years ago, Myers defeated Scott in a race to succeed Washington.
The president of the Lower Richland NAACP, Bobby Reese, filed a letter of complaint against Scott with the president of the statewide NAACP and with members of the Richland County election commission. The election commission forwarded the letter to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, which is “looking into” the allegations, a sheriff’s spokesperson said.
In the letter, Reese said he received reports that Scott was “accosting everyone as they entered the polling center” at Webber Elementary School in Eastover, encouraging people to vote for Sheriff Leon Lott, Coroner Gary Watts and County Council candidate Cheryl English in the Democratic primary. Scott says she was within her rights to greet people at the polling place.
In his letter, Reese added that a number of people had expressed concerns about Scott to him, and they were “unwilling to say anything to Bernice Scott for fear of retribution.”
“’Fear of retribution’ is synonymous with intimidation, and this behavior MUST be curtailed completely,” Reese wrote.
Scott laughed aloud at the accusation of intimidation.
“Let me tell you something. You can ask anybody off the street or on the street about Bernice Scott,” she said. “I will never, ever try to intimidate you. ... I’m 75 years of age. I’ve lived here all my life in this community. The people know me ... and they respect me. I’ve never bullied anybody.”
Reese said in his letter that after hearing concerns about Scott from a Lower Richland NAACP board member at the polling site, he visited the site himself.
“Immediately,” he wrote, “I saw Bernice Scott standing at the building entrance... Bernice challenged my right to be at the polling location, admonishing me that the NAACP was not authorized to be there and that I was supporting (Council District 10 incumbent) Dalhi Myers. I walked past her, entered the polling precinct, and asked to speak with the Polling Clerk.”
The poll clerk told Reese she had received other complaints about “this situation,” Reese wrote. The clerk asked Scott to move away from the door, Reese said, and “Bernice flatly told her, ‘I am not going anywhere.’”
The poll clerk’s supervisor told her to call the police, Reese said.
Reese also said Scott “got into a profanity-laced, threat-slinging, verbal altercation” with a Myers supporter outside the school. He said they were “shouting obscenities and threats of bodily harm at each other.”
“The entire episode was reprehensible, intimidating, and completely avoidable,” Reese wrote.
Scott said that accusation was untrue. “I have never cursed anybody” except Reese himself when he confronted her at the polls, she said.
Reese said he monitored the situation outside Webber for about 40 minutes, and during that time he did not hear Scott “say any disparaging or disrespectful remarks to any citizen while I was there.”
Speaking in person to the county election board last week during its vote certification meeting, Reese said he was concerned that Scott may have shown a pattern of interfering at voting places in the past, not just last Tuesday.
Scott defended her position as a well-known member of the community and her right to speak to people outside of polling places.
“I’m not going to back down from anybody,” she said. “I know the rules. And any Democrat in Columbia can tell you I’ve always done what’s right. I will never do anything wrong to hurt anybody.”
Scott said she’ll be back at the polls for the runoff election Tuesday.
Members of the NAACP plan to monitor the polls, too, state NAACP President Brenda Murphy said.
This story was originally published June 17, 2020 at 5:26 PM.
