Saturday, Nov. 07, 2009

Fight over Atlantic Beach vote grows

Leaders from an Atlantic Beach citizen group spoke out Friday against two of the town's election commissioners, calling their actions in this week's Town Council elections unethical and unlawful.

During a press conference Friday afternoon, Patricia Bellamy and Ed Wilson, the president and vice president of Atlantic Beach Concerned Citizens, accused election commissioners Alice Graham and Linda Booker of intimidating voters and using inconsistent criteria when judging whether to count voters' challenged ballots. Bellamy and Wilson said the two commissioners sought to give an edge in the race to the incumbent candidates, Charlene Taylor and Josephine Isom, who were determined the losers after votes were certified on Thursday.

Booker and Graham declined Friday to comment on the accusations.

Write-in candidates Windy Price and Carolyn Cole, who were backed by the Atlantic Beach Concerned Citizens, were found to be the winners in the election. Although the group is glad they won, they still feel the election commissioners did not handle Thursday's challenged ballot hearing properly.

A hearing will be held at 10 a.m. today, when the three ousted candidates will express their concerns and the commissioners will decide how to proceed. State law says that until the process is resolved, the incumbents must stay in office.

Taylor, Isom and Paul Curry have said that Price and Cole, are not residents of Atlantic Beach and did not follow proper procedures in declaring their candidacy and in campaigning. The election commission has not ruled on the latter concerns.

Bellamy said the Atlantic Beach Concerned Citizens wanted to share its issues with Booker and Graham before today's hearing.

"We want these two people looked into because we want to know what is so important in the town of Atlantic Beach that you are willing to lie, cheat and steal this election to give it to Charlene Taylor and Josephine Isom," she said.

Wilson, a Red Bluff community activist, said he thinks the commissioners are part of a bigger conspiracy.

"It's a corrupt government," he said. "They want to keep that council in power. I think they're trying to sell the town out to North Myrtle Beach or Horry County."

Bellamy and Wilson said that the two commissioners may have violated the Voting Rights Act by going door-to-door and handing out notices that said that absentee voters were required to be present at the challenged ballot hearing to have their vote counted when this is not required by state law.

They also contended that Graham and Booker gave unequal treatment to the voters with challenged ballots and accused them of trying to sabotage Price's efforts to be on the ballot.

The group is not challenging the town's third election commissioner, Nicole Kenion, Wilson said.

"She's the only honest one," he said.

After Tuesday's election, Taylor had the second largest number of votes, but after the commission voted to accept 28 of the 39 challenged ballots, most of which voted for both Price and Cole, Taylor came up short for the votes needed to win one of the two council seats.

Price received 64 votes, and Cole received 52 votes. Incumbents Taylor and Isom received 43 and 35 votes, respectively. Curry, the only challenger on the ballot, received five votes.

After Bellamy was not allowed to be on the ballot, residents requested that Cole be a write-in candidate, Cole has said.

Bellamy was removed after the election commission discovered she had been found guilty of forgery, which is a felony. The state election laws require that a person be pardoned under state or federal law, or that 15 years or more pass after the person completes the sentence.

If the decision is upheld that Cole and Price are the winners of this week's election, Taylor, who serves as mayor pro tem and is filling in for suspended Mayor Retha Pierce, will remain in the position through her current term this year, and council members will have to select a new substitute for Pierce.