Democrats approve do-over for flawed District 4 primary
BY ROBERT BEHRE
Of The Post and Courier Staff

The June 8 Democratic primary for Charleston County Council's District 4 seat was flawed enough to warrant doing the election over again, possibly as early as Tuesday, the county's Democratic Party decided Wednesday.

About two dozen members of the county's executive committee unanimously voted that District 4 Democrats will return to the polls to choose between Henry Darby, Karen Hollinshead Brown, Robert Mitchell and Edith Askins.

The Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration met earlier Wednesday and recertified the June 8 results as follows: Darby, 401 votes; Brown, 334 votes; Mitchell, 332 votes; and Askins, 226 votes.

Mitchell's attorney Nancy Bloodgood argued that at least 10 voters at Bayside Manor tried to vote for him but couldn't because the voting machine was locked on District 3, where there was no Democratic council primary.

This is the first year in decades that council candidates are running from single-member districts, a change most expected to cause confusion.

"This is an identification of a very serious problem at this pre-cinct," Bloodgood said.

Brown's attorney David Jennings told the Democratic executive committee that the June 8 result should stand and that Darby and Brown should face off in a runoff Tuesday. He said voters, and the candidates, had the responsibility June 8 to make sure all their votes were cast properly.

"The election was run. It wasn't run perfectly, but we have a result, and the result ought to stand the way it is," Jennings said.

Brown can appeal the county party's decision to the state Democratic committee, which would consider the matter Saturday. Late Wednesday, Brown indicated she would decide today whether she will do that.

An appeal could cause the next District 4 vote to be pushed back beyond Tuesday's runoff.

"We're in uncharted waters at this point," Democratic County Chairman Mullins McLeod said.

Board of Elections director Jill Miller said earlier Wednesday that her staff plans to set up the District 4 voting machines last, to give it time to make last-minute ballot changes.

"Whatever the Democratic Party decides, we will certainly go along with," she said.

District 4 runs from Robert Mills Manor in downtown Charleston and includes everything north of Market Street and east of Rutledge Avenue. It extends through the eastern part of the Neck Area and includes most North Charleston neighborhoods east of Interstate 26 and south of Noisette Creek.