Drawdy v. South Carolina Democratic Executive Committee

247 S.E.2d 806, 271 S.C. 415, 1978 S.C. LEXIS 296
CourtSupreme Court of South Carolina
DecidedSeptember 11, 1978
Docket20762
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 247 S.E.2d 806 (Drawdy v. South Carolina Democratic Executive Committee) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of South Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Drawdy v. South Carolina Democratic Executive Committee, 247 S.E.2d 806, 271 S.C. 415, 1978 S.C. LEXIS 296 (S.C. 1978).

Opinion

Per Curiam:

This is a proceeding, under a writ of certiorari, to review the decision of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of South Carolina [State Committee] affirming the actions of the Executive Committee of the Democratic Party of Beaufort County [County Committee] in refusing to declare petitioner Bruce A. Drawdy the party nominee for sheriff of Beaufort County and in ordering a new run-off primary election.

The issue is whether enough improper votes were cast to affect the outcome of the election. We hold that the decision to conduct a new election is not supported by the evidence and reverse.

The purpose of our review of the actions of the State Committee is to determine whether any errors of law were committed by the State Committee, and if so, to correct them. We may not review the facts except to deter[417]*417mine whether the actions of the State Committee are wholly unsupported by the evidence. Laney v. Baskin, 201 S. C. 246, 22 S. E. (2d) 722 (1942).

Since the State Committee did no more than simply affirm the actions of the County Committee, our review will focus on the findings and order of the County Committee.

We will employ every reasonable presumption to sustain the contested election. Berry v. Spigner, 226 S. C. 183, 84 S. E. (2d) 381 (1954).

On June 13, 1978 a Democratic Party primary election was held in Beaufort County. No candidate for sheriff of Beaufort County received a majority of the votes cast in the primary election and a run-off election for sheriff was held on June 27, 1978. Bruce A. Drawdy won the run-off election and defeated his opponent Robert “Bobby” Jenkins by a margin of 101 votes.

A protest to the run-off eletcion was timely filed by Jenkins and a hearing on the protest was conducted by the County Committee on July 6, 1978. The County Committee determined that 137 illegal votes were cast in the run-off election; rescinded their certification of Drawdy as the party nominee for Beaufort County sheriff; and ordered a new election.

Drawdy appealed to the State Committee and after a hearing on July 13, 1978 the State Committee voted to affirm the actions of the County Committee.

On July 20, 1978 this Court granted a writ of certiorari to review the actions of the State Committee and issued a temporary restraining order enjoining the holding of any further primary election for the office of sheriff of Beaufort County.

The County Committee’s decision to conduct a new election was based on its finding that 137 electors improperly voted in the run-off election. The County Committee found [418]*418that 78 electors who voted in the run-off election on June 27, 1978 also voted in the Republican primary election on June 13, 1978; and that 59 electors who voted in the runoff election participated in the organization of the Beaufort County Republican Precinct Clubs. Each of these 137 electors was determined by the County Committee to have violated the electors’ oath that each voter .takes when he signs the poll list. That oath, which is prescribed by Section 7-13-1010, 1976 Code of Laws of South Carolina, reads as follows :

The managers at each box shall require every voter to take the following additional oath and pledge: “I do solemnly swear or affirm that I am duly qualified to vote at this primary election and that I have not voted before at this primary election or in any other party’s primary election or officially participated in the nominating conviction for any vacancy for which this primary is being held.”

The list of 78 electors who allegedly voted in both the Republican primary and the Democratic run-off appears at Appendix A to this opinion. We have compared the Republican primary voter registration computer print-out sheets and signed poll lists with the Democratic run-off voter registration computer print-out sheets and signed poll lists and have determined that the County Committee’s finding that 78 electors voted in both the Republican primary and the Democratic run-off is wholly unsupported by the evidence. The record will only support the finding that 65 of the list of 78 voted in both elections. The record will not support the finding that 13 of the list of 78 voted in both elections. The names of these 13 electors appear at Appendix B to this opinion.

The list of 59 electors who allegedly voted in the Democratic run-off and participated in the organization of the Beaufort County Republican Precinct Clubs appears at Appendix C to this opinion. This list of electors could be held ineligible to vote in the Democratic run-off only if each [419]*419elector violated Section 7-13-1010 by officially participating in the Republican Party’s nominating convention.

The name of each of these 59 electors appears on a Republican Precinct Certification Form, commonly referred to as a P-1 list. Each of the 59 is designated as a member of a particular Republican Precinct Club. The membership list, or P-1 list, for each Republican Precinct Club was filed with the Beaufort County Clerk of Court as required by Section 7-9-30, 1976 Code.

The Chairman of the Beaufort County Republican Party, John M. Finn, testified that the P-1 lists contain the names of individuals who participated in the precinct club organizational meetings. He further testified that an “X” beside an individual’s name on a P-1 list indicated an elected delegate to the county Republican convention; and that a check-mark by an individual’s name indicated an elected alternate to the county Republican convention. Mr. Finn stated the Republican Party did not have a list of those individuals who participated in the county Republican convention.

Fifteen names on the list of 59 appear with an “X” indicating their election as a delegate to the county convention. Six names on -the list of 59 appear with a checkmark indicating their election as an alternate to the county convention. The remaining 38 names on the list of 59 appear without either an “X” or a check-mark.

The County Committee invalidated the votes of each elector whose name appears on the list of 59:

The committee feels that these fifty-nine (59) persons could possibly have participated in the nominating convention either because participation at the precinct level is deemed to be participation in the nominating convention or because all of these persons did in fact participate in the nominating convention itself.

In addition, however, it was established that of these fifty-nine (59) names fifteen (15) were delegates and six (6) [420]*420were alternates .... While it was not possible to determine if these persons actually attended the nominating convention, it is reasonably probable that a significant number of persons did attend and participated in the Republic Nominating Convention to affect the outcome of this election.

The question presented by this proceeding is whether participation by an elector in the precinct club organizational meeting of one political party, without more, gives rise to the reasonable inference that the elector has “officially participated” in that party’s nominating convention within the meaning of Section 7-13-1010.

We are of the view that the only reasonable inference that can be drawn from participation in a political party’s precinct club organizational meeting is membership in that political party.

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Related

Sims v. Ham
271 S.E.2d 316 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1980)
Trapp v. South Carolina Board
255 S.E.2d 670 (Supreme Court of South Carolina, 1979)

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Bluebook (online)
247 S.E.2d 806, 271 S.C. 415, 1978 S.C. LEXIS 296, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/drawdy-v-south-carolina-democratic-executive-committee-sc-1978.