The Lee County elections office is addressing concerns raised by the South Carolina Election Commission regarding irregularities in a disputed state Senate race. Incumbent Democrat Gerald Malloy is contesting the results of the Senate District 29 race, which he lost by fewer than 100 votes to Republican JD Chaplin.
Malloy is specifically questioning discrepancies in Lee County, where vote totals shifted significantly between the initial count and the recount.
Earlier this week, Howard Knapp, Executive Director of the South Carolina Election Commission, sent a letter to Lee County officials. He raised concerns that the discrepancies “raise questions about the accuracy of the recount process.”
Lee County’s response, written by Deloris LeGrant, the chairperson of the Lee County Board of Voter Registration and Elections, stated that “some of the test ballots were included in the election night count but not the recount. This could explain why the total number of votes decreased between the initial count and the recount. However, the situation remains unclear, and further questions persist.
“We’ve never seen this before at the state level, said TJ Lundeen, a spokesperson for the South Carolina Election Commission. We want to ensure that every registered voter in South Carolina trusts the process and understands how it works.
District 29 covers parts of Darlington, Chesterfield, Marlboro, Sumter, and Lee counties, but the issues raised by Malloy’s campaign and the Election Commission were specifically in Lee County. According to the official recount results, Malloy gained 59 votes in Lee County, while Chaplin lost 129 votes.
Lundeen added, We want to know from start to finish what the recount process was, including ensuring that every ballot was properly accounted for from the moment it left the voter’s hands to the machine and from the machine to the office.
In addition to their response, Lee County elections sent the Election Commission two documents: the mandatory recount procedures from the Election Commission’s guidebook and reports from individual precincts. LeGrant’s letter confirmed that Lee County followed state and federal election laws for the recount.
It also explained that test ballots were included in the election night count, but not the recount, because test data had not been cleared out as required. This appears to have been an oversight in the data process, not a technical failure.
The South Carolina Election Commission is still reviewing Lee County’s response. A spokesperson mentioned they are still trying to make sense of it.
Lundeen emphasized, “We want everything they can provide, from emails to audit logs, to help us understand what happened and ensure any issues are fixed in the future.”
A hearing on Malloy’s protest is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 3. If the protest is successful, a new election may be ordered. Lee County officials have also expressed a willingness to accept any assistance or training the state may offer to help resolve the issues.