What’s a protest hearing? This SC town will have one to decide its election 3 months later
Atlantic Beach may officially have a mayor by the end of March.
It comes after the town has gone for more than three months without one and received criticism from South Carolina’s legal counsel, who called the situation an “embarrassing episode.”
A protest hearing has been requested by mayoral candidate Josephine Isom to verify the contested 18 votes from November’s election, said Kenneth McIver, the temporary chairperson for the town’s election commission. Once that is done, the election can be certified and a winner declared.
A protest hearing is a standard election procedure, McIver said.
A protest hearing happens when someone challenges an election, said Sandy Martin, the director of the Horry County Voter Registration and Elections Board. This causes the election commission to meet and decide if the protest is legitimate and how to move forward. Sometimes, this means ordering a new election or a recount.
For Atlantic Beach, the town plans to bring in the people who cast the 18 challenged votes and determine if their votes are correct. McIver said Isom asked for the protest hearing.
Isom did not comment on the matter.
South Carolina laws says that when the board meets for a protest hearing, it must stay in session until a conclusion has been reached. When the session concludes, the board will certify the election results and send results out to the candidates.
Martin said this is not unusual and that Horry County has called protest hearings in the past, but the hearings are not called often.
The protest hearing will be at 10 a.m. March 20 at the Atlantic Beach Community Center. McIver said he does not know how long it would be until the new mayor would take office following the announcement of a winner.
Atlantic Beach has been dealing with issues regarding its 2023 municipal elections since November. There was a close race between mayoral candidates Isom and John David Jr.
Isom was originally announced as the winner but after recounting 18 contested votes, David appeared to win, The Sun News reported. When the election commission gathered to certify the recounted votes on Nov. 10, Mayor Jake Evans fired the entire commission, which is against South Carolina law.
Despite reinstating the election commission on Nov. 28, the town has been unable to certify the votes and determine winners from the election.
“This is an unfair, unjust action that has been navigated by my opponent and the town’s lawyer,” David said. He said the voters had their approved documentation from the county and the votes were ready to be counted when the commission was fired.
Atlantic Beach voted earlier this year for Horry County to handle its future elections.
