DACUSVILLE — The S.C. Supreme Court has denied a petition for a writ of certiorari from Phillip Healy in the case of the botched election for the District 7 seat on the Board of Trustees for the school District of Pickens County.

The election will take place on March 26.

A writ of certiorari orders a lower court to deliver its record in a case so that the higher court may review it. In refusing to take up the case, the decision made by lower bodies — in this case the Pickens County Board of Voter Registration and Elections followed by the State Board of Canvassers — is upheld.

“As ordered by the Governor of South Carolina, the Board of Voter Registration and Elections of Pickens County will be conducting a new election for the Pickens County School Board District 7 between Alice Hendricks Vander Linden, Phillip Healy and any eligible write-in candidate,” states the Pickens County Elections Commission. “Any person wishing to vote in this election must reside inside Pickens County School Board District 7 and register to vote no later than Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019. Voter Registration by mail forms will be accepted if postmarked by Monday, Feb. 25, 2019.”

In November 2018, Alice Hendricks Vander Linden lost to Philip Healy in the race for the newly created seventh school board seat. But it was revealed shortly afterwards that over 130 residents never had a chance to vote on it.

According to Executive Director of the Pickens County Board of Elections Rodney Allen, the Dacusville, Nine Forks and Crossroads precincts — all in the District 7 area — were included in the seven precincts affected by voting machines that weren’t loaded correctly.

Once the error was discovered, emergency (paper) ballots were brought in, but a letter from Allen to Sheree Chapman dated Nov. 13 and obtained by The Sentinel-Progress, stated that 148 failsafe ballots were used as emergency and 137 voters who were eligible to vote for the district 7 seat never had the chance.

Linden lost by 22 votes.

She then filed a formal protest, calling for a new election asserting that some of the paper ballots didn’t include the school board race, some people who used voting machines didn’t get to vote in the school board race, some voting machines malfunctioned or weren’t properly operated, causing a miscount, not all of the voting machine results were included in the vote totals and state election laws and regulations weren’t followed.

The Board agreed.

The State Supreme Court’s decision to let the new election proceed as planned has both campaigns scrambling to re-affirm their base and secure voters.

In a campaign letter addressed to “Dear Conservative Friend,” Healy appeared to blame the overturned election in part on Rep. Neal Collins writing: (verbatim) “As you are well aware, the Collins Cartel of Easley was successful in overturning the results of the election and Your VOICE for this School Board seat! We cannot allow them to be successful in winning this seat! We must expose them and Defeat them soundly on March 26.

He continues: “I can not do this alone, this is your seat and I need everyone’s help in spreading the word to every single conservative voter in the Dacusville District 7 area to alert them of what has just been done to them!”

Healy wrote he was not wanted on the Board due to his strong conservative values and support of President Trump.

“The Pickens County Election Board unanimously overturned the election that was held in November because the school board election was left off a significant number of ballots,” countered Vander Linden on her campaign Facebook page. “My opponent appealed their decision to South Carolina Election Board and they unanimously upheld The decision of Pickens. My opponent then appealed the State decision to the South Carolina Supreme Court. The S.C. Supreme Court unanimously upheld the State Board decision. Governor McMaster has now ordered a new election to be held March 26, 2019.

“I am a qualified conservative candidate who has taught children all my life. I care about our children and their education. My opponent has continually signed up and run for different elective offices. His motives have nothing to do with education. His motives are just to be in politics,” she said.

Sample ballot for the District 7 seat.
https://www.sentinelprogress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_vote1.jpgSample ballot for the District 7 seat.

https://www.sentinelprogress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_SDPC2.jpg

By Kasie Strickland

kstrickland@cmpapers.com

Reach Kasie Strickland at 864-855-0355.