Jones On Politics

Voters Speak Out Against Scarborough’s ‘illegal voters list’.

From the Post & Courier:

The 328 people who former state Rep. Wallace Scarborough alleges improperly voted in the House District 115 race have very varied stories about what they did on election day.

But state lawmakers won’t get to hear any of them Jan. 14, when they begin to consider whether to overturn the Nov. 4 election in which Democrat Anne Peterson Hutto defeated Scarborough by 211 votes.

That’s because the state House won’t consider any new evidence as it reviews Scarborough’s appeal. It will consider only what was presented before the State Election Commission last month, and neither side called witnesses at that time.

Scarborough’s team compared voter registration lists with other address lists, such as those in the county tax system and the state Department of Motor Vehicles, but there hasn’t been any testimony from those whose votes are in dispute.

Here are some of their stories.

Buddy Milligan lives on Little Oak Island but has his mail sent to his North Charleston office. Milligan is amused that his vote is among 278 being questioned because their voter registration address and driver’s license address aren’t the same.

“Protesting my vote is kind of ridiculous because I voted for him,” Milligan said. “I am a died-in-the-wool, right-of-Attila-the-Hun Republican.”

Kit Trash also has her Broad Street office address listed on her driver’s license but lives on James Island. She isn’t happy to see her vote being questioned.

“I thought it was pretty arrogant on his part just to make some sort of assumption,” she said. “I understand he’s grasping at any opportunity of any chance of making an appeal.”

But John L. Clair Jr. said he did vote in District 115 — where he lived for eight years — even though he moved a year ago to West Ashley.

Clair said he was unaware that if he returned to his old precinct that he was supposed to ask for a fail-safe ballot — a special ballot that doesn’t include state House and certain other local races.

Clair said he still does a lot of work installing car stereos on James Island, where his family owns a business, but added, “I guess my vote should not have counted for that (race).”

Scarborough’s lawyers also are questioning the votes cast by Nancy and Patrick Diehl, who sold their James Island home and moved to Hong Kong to teach.

“As U.S. citizens, we feel strongly that it is both our right and responsibility to vote,” Ms. Diehl said via e-mail. “It is disturbing to have heard from several different people that our names were on this list being questioned by Mr. Scarborough. However, prior to leaving, we checked with Charleston County to ensure that we followed proper procedures.”

Chris Fulks updated his voter registration address and his driver’s license to his new James Island address, but the public record shows his car tax bill went to his former residence in downtown Charleston, where he lived until September. Scarborough’s appeal lists him and 39 others whose voting address and car tax bill addresses don’t match.

Fulks said he is confident he voted in the right place, adding, “There are people moving around constantly,” he said. “I don’t think anybody did anything illegal.”

Hutto’s camp easily identified Fulks as someone whose vote was questioned but was valid: Fulks currently rents a Fort Johnson Road home that backs up to Hutto’s. Her family is his landlord.

Asked if Scarborough alleges these voters committed fraud, his attorney Butch Bowers said, “I would put the responsibility more on the County Election Commission for allowing these people to vote.”

Hutto’s attorney Truett Nettles said the House will be reviewing the case only for errors of law that the State Election Commission might have made.

“The House is saying they’re going to hear this case and handle it the same way the South Carolina Supreme Court would handle an appeal. I think that’s the proper way to do it,” he said. “If this comes down to a vote in the House along partisan lines, I’m afraid it would look very political and very suspect.”