Lazarus asks election board to delay certifying runoff results

Story courtesy of My Horry News

The Horry County Election Commission on Thursday morning certified Tuesday’s runoff vote for Horry County Council chairman between incumbent Johnny Gardner and former chairman Mark Lazarus.

Republican primary election results were also certified for the Horry County school board chair, won by David Cox; the Horry County Council District 8, won by Michael Masciarelli; and the S.C. House seat 106, won by Val Guest.

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Prior to the certification, Lazarus appealed to the commissioners to delay the certification because there were hundreds of ballots that the commission would not open.

A glitch at a printing company caused nearly 1,400 Democratic ballots to be mailed to Republican voters. The company sent replacement ballots out when the mistake was discovered but they weren’t received before Saturday, three days before the election.

County voter registration director Sandy Martin said 183 ballots were received Wednesday in the mail and 25 more on Thursday. Since the ballots came in after 7 p.m. on election day, Martin said state law mandates that they not be opened and counted.

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