LAKE CITY, S.C. — Lake City Mayor Yamekia Robinson will get a hearing Tuesday on her bid to force a runoff in the city mayoral race, after Florence County officials certified the Nov. 3 results last week.
Former Mayor LaRue Alford finished first in the three-way contest with 785 votes, according to totals Robinson listed in her protest. Robinson had 584 and Michael Donavan Nero had 530. No candidate reached half of the votes cast, and Alford claimed victory on election night.
Robinson filed her written protest Thursday. She argues a city ordinance passed in 2004 defines the winner of a single-office race as the candidate with a majority and calls for a runoff when no one gets there. She asked election officials to order a runoff between the top two finishers instead of seating a winner by plurality.
Alford and Lake City staff have said publicly that the city decides its elections by plurality and that no runoff is needed. The county election commission certified all county races Friday after a two-hour canvass but did not take up the protest.
The county voter registration and elections board will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at its office at 219 Third Loop Road to consider the challenge.
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