Separated by 2 votes, SC town left wondering who its mayor is a week after the election

For more than a week, the Town of Estill hasn’t known who its mayor is.

The general election April 13 was too close to call, and a handful of votes remain challenged. Some questions may be answered at a Wednesday hearing.

The hearing, to certify the unofficial election results and determine how to proceed, is set for 7 p.m. in the town’s courtroom, Marsha Robinson, the Estill Municipal Election Commission chairperson, told the Hampton County Guardian. Certifying the election results allows for a recount to take place, which is expected to happen within the next two weeks.

Robinson and town administrator Caryn Miller were not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.

The unofficial count for the mayoral election was released April 14, the afternoon after the polls closed, with just two votes separating challenger Kim E. Wiley and Estill Mayor Corrin F. Bowers III. The count showed Wiley with 273 votes and Bowers with 271.

The election for the two open council seats — four council members serve at a time — was also close.

Those unofficial results of the three-person race showed challenger Alfonia Al Green with 331 votes and incumbent Dwanda Tonya Bolden with 294, claiming the open seats, and incumbent Charles Savino losing his seat with 249 votes.

Reached Tuesday morning, Mayor Bowers said he expects Wednesday’s meeting to be open to the public, but only a limited number of people can be in the courtroom at a time because of COVID-19 safety precautions. The town is also still under a face mask mandate.

“A few votes are being challenged, and (the Election Board) will have to make a decision of what is legal and what is not and decide what votes are counted,” he said. He said he believes the residents whose votes are being challenged will be able to be heard.

Although he is the top elected official in Estill, Bowers is not involved in leading the meeting and recently recused himself when town council had to vote for two election board commissioners because he is a candidate in the mayoral race.

Estill Town Council held a special meeting Monday to appoint two election commissioners ahead of Wednesday’s hearing. Although the agenda is posted online, neither a video of the virtual meeting nor meeting minutes were published on the town’s website by Tuesday afternoon.

“(Voting) is a political process here in our country, and hopefully the laws of elections will be followed,” Bowers said. “That’s a right every American has that needs to be protected.”

An estimated 10 votes are being challenged, including two provisional.

Estill has 2,319 registered voters, according to the state elections website. The town represents one of Hampton County’s 18 voting precincts, which has a total of 12,985 registered voters.

In addition to Estill, the towns of Furman and Gifford also held local general elections, all of which were uncontested, on April 13. The towns of Brunson, Luray and Yemassee will have similar elections in November.