The State Elections Commission ruled last week that 7th District candidate Gloria Brommell Tinubu won the Democratic primary outright, but on Friday a Georgetown judge said not so fast.
Judge Larry Hyman ruled that votes for ex-candidate Ted Vick should have been counted in the overall total, which means Tinubu did not receive a majority of the votes in the June 12 primary. In setting up a hasty runoff election for South Carolina’s new congressional seat, Hyman’s ruling gives establishment favorite Preston Brittain another chance at winning the Democratic nomination.
The Elections Commission originally said Vick was no longer a candidate and his votes didn’t count, giving Tinubu the majority needed to avoid a runoff against Brittain. Elections spokesman Chris Whitmire said the commission’s longstanding policy has been to ignore votes for withdrawn candidates when determining a majority vote in a primary.
However, Hyman concurred with Attorney General Alan Wilson’s opinion that all votes in an election should be counted when determining a majority. The judge cited legal precedent as well as laws in other states in ruling that Vick’s votes should have been counted, and Elections Commission officials have agreed to change their policy to reflect Hyman’s ruling.
[Click here to read Judge Hyman's ruling]
“The SEC wanted to remain consistent and not make a change in the way it counted votes while the outcome was in dispute,” said Executive Director Marci Andino, who added that the agency “appreciates the clarity this decision provides.”
Whitmire said the runoff election will be held this coming Tuesday, a quick turnaround for votes who may have been already confused by the tumultuous primary. In fact, we fully expect voter turnout in the June 26 runoff to be even lower than the June 12 primary’s historically low turnout level.
It remains to be seen whether Brittain will be able to overcome the 12-point gap which separated him from the former Georgia state representative in the primary. Based on the results from June 12, in order to beat Tinubu, Brittain would need to attract not only all of Ted Vick’s supporters, but all of the votes which went to the other two Democrats in the race as well.
The winner of the Democratic runoff will face the Republican nominee, either former Lt. Gov. André Bauer or Horry Councilman Tom Rice. Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Rice on Friday, calling Bauer a “self-serving career politician.”
And for the record, this is the second time during this primary season that a court has had to step in and clear up a vague and misinterpreted elections law. When you throw in the state’s historically low voter turnout, discriminatory ballot suppression measures and notoriously unreliable voting machines, it’s becoming easier to see how South Carolina’s bellwether status could be fading steadily into obscurity.
“it’s becoming easier to see how South Carolina’s bellwether status could be fading steadily into obscurity.”
Has it ever been one?
At least somebody has some integrity around here. Well done Judge Hyman! Following the SC Election Law ensures, for both Democrats and Republicans, a fair election process.
1) Never should the will of the people be set aside for ease of process. The sanctity of a vote must always be held above the system in which administers it, otherwise we would not need elections.
2) Not following the law would allow for tactical manipulation of primary elections by running proxy Candidates in future elections.
3) A certified candidate is a Candidate until written notice is provided to the State Election Commission, not less than 30 days prior to the election, allowing time for the Candidate to be removed by the commission. Vick was arrested two weeks before the election, and although did not intend to continue seeking the office, he was not disqualified and was still a candidate under the law.
I find it disturbing that Gloria Bromell Tinubu, seeking to represent South Carolina as a legislator in Congress would be willing to put her personal interest above South Carolinian voters. The SC Election Laws are clear in this matter, and if qualified to be a legislator, Dr. Tinubu should have know better than to try and circumvent the law.
Then again Dr. Tinubu is consistent in putting her personal ambitions first. She was a freshman state representative from Atlanta, barely halfway through her term, when she resigned to seek South Carolina’s newly-created 7th District seat. What was the cost to her Georgian constituency? What personal interest would she put above above her South Carolinian constituency in the future?
And after reading Dr. Tinubu’s vitae on Coastal Carolina’s web site, it is self-evident that her personal interests will be focused on a small percentage of the 7th District’s constituency.
I smell another professional politician …