Can Richland County run a smooth primary election in June? SC lawmakers want to know
As the June statewide primary approaches — promising new challenges at the polls as elections officials run an election during a pandemic — state lawmakers are concerned about whether Richland County officials can properly conduct an election.
Chief among their concerns are the county’s failure to hire a new director and past problems at the polls.
In a May 18 letter to Richland County delegation chairman Rep. Jimmy Bales, Rep. Beth Bernstein demanded that the members of the delegation meet with Richland County elections officials to discuss the upcoming election, which is scheduled for June 9.
The meeting was later set for Tuesday.
“The primary is in three weeks, and we have no time to waste,” Bernstein wrote in a letter signed by ten other members of the county’s 17-member delegation. “This is an important election, and the track record of elections in our county has not been too favorable in years past.”
Bernstein told The State she called for the meeting because of Richland County’s history of election issues, which she called “unacceptable and inexcusable.” Those issues are likely to be accompanied by new difficulties in putting on an election during a pandemic, she said.
“I’m really concerned that we’re not equipped for this election, let alone the election in November,” said Bernstein, a Democrat who represents parts of Forest Acres, Arcadia Lakes and Fort Jackson.
More than once, elections in Richland County have resulted in lost ballots.
After the February Democratic presidential primary, Richland County election officials admitted they misplaced about 70 absentee ballots, which weren’t located until two days later.
During the 2018 general election, the board failed to count more than 1,000 ballots, more than 800 of which were from absentee voters. After the mistake was discovered, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster fired the entire Richland County elections board.
Lawmakers later voted to hire a consultant to help Richland County overcome their elections issues, but the State Election Commission never hired anyone because they could not find money in their budget to afford one.
Ballots were also misplaced in 2012, just one of many issues that plagued elections officials during that cycle.
June’s primary promises to be a logistically difficult one.
Last week, lawmakers voted to expand absentee voting for the June statewide primary due to coronavirus concerns. In late March, as the state was seeing the genesis of COVID-19’s spread, state and local officials predicted that elections offices will be inundated with absentee ballots, which they may not have the resources to handle.
Other state lawmakers from Richland County sounded off on their concerns ahead of the Tuesday meeting.
“There are a lot of concerns about, ‘Are we ready for June 9? Do we have the personnel? Do we have the poll workers?’ ” Democratic state Sen. Dick Harpootlian, who represents Columbia’s downtown district into Richland County’s Irmo areas, said.
Elections officials will have to battle a shortage in poll workers at in-person voting sites after hundreds of poll workers in Richland County said they will not be participating this year due to coronavirus concerns.
House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, a Democrat who represents parts of Columbia north of downtown and near Five Points, called the history of issues in Richland County a “pattern.”
“What we want to do is hear from the election commission on how this election is going to be different from the others,” Rutherford said.
“Everything about the election commission is concerning to all of us,” he added.
Lawmakers said they will be focused on asking elections officials their plan to ensure that everything goes smoothly come June.
Richland County Elections Board director Charles Austin said the elections officials have been in discussion with officials in Greenville County, Charleston County and the State Election Commission looking at ways to minimize mistakes during the June primary.
“The challenges that we’re dealing with are not unique to, nor are they exclusive to, Richland County,” Austin said. “We want to make sure we are proactive and we take the necessary steps in implementing appropriate actions to minimize the probability of issues.”
One of those approaches will be having as many staff members, including the board of elections commissioners, as possible present on election night to help count ballots, Austin said.
“We recognize that we certainly do not want to repeat 2018 or the 2020 presidential primary,” Austin said.
The board has also continued to look for a new director, he added.
It has been about a year since Richland County’s election division has had a full-time director.
Former director Rokey Suleman was fired in May 2019, months after the election commission lost ballots during the 2018 general election.
The board attempted to hire a new director earlier this month, but negotiations with the county’s preferred candidate fell through. A board member quit after expressing frustration with the negotiation process, and his position has not yet been filled.
Bernstein called the failure to hire a new director earlier this year “very troubling.”
Currently, the department is operating under interim-director Terry Graham, who was in charge during the 2020 Democratic presidential primary when about 70 ballots were misplaced.
Austin said the job listing for a new director was posted on May 8, and board members hope to hire a new director by July 1.
Those approaches are something Austin hopes the board can discuss with the Richland County delegation Tuesday, he said.
Until then, though, Rutherford said he is not sure how confident he is in the local election officials.
“One of the things that I think we all hope is they have learned from the process,” Rutherford said. “I think once we get a chance to talk to them, we can figure out the level of confidence we have.”
