SC town where nobody filed to run will be asked to vote again
The South Carolina town that held an election with no candidates will now be asked to vote again.
After no candidates filed to run for the town council this Tuesday, Gilbert will hold a runoff vote between the two top winners of 70 write-in votes that were cast in the town of less than 600 people on Election Day.
Incumbent councilman Patrick Carson will face Keith Powell in a town wide runoff vote on Nov. 18, Lexington County Elections Director Lenice Shoemaker said after Thursday’s meeting of the county election commission counted up the write-in votes and determined whether the people named were eligible to serve on town council.
This time, both candidates’ names will now be printed on the ballots for voters to decide between the runoff candidates, Shoemaker said.
Victory by write-in is not unusual in the small town. Gilbert Mayor John Reeder won re-election on Tuesday with 75% of the vote despite running unopposed, with the other quarter of the votes going to write-in candidates.
But because the town’s election ordinance requires a candidate win more than 50% of the vote to win election, the two candidates who won the most write-ins have to run again for the two open seats on the town council.
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