Nov. 20, 2024. 8:50 a.m.: This story has been updated to include a statement from the South Carolina Democratic Party, and to clarify election total numbers.
Democrat Gerald Malloy has filed a protest with the South Carolina Election Commission over the results of a recount in his race against Republican J.D. Chaplin to retain his seat in Senate District 29.
According to the commission, vote total irregularities in Lee County are the main concern.
Following the Nov. 5 General Election, Malloy received 3,338 votes in Lee County, to Chaplin's 1,374 — a total of 4,712 votes. Following the recount, Malloy actually did better against Chaplin in Lee County, with 3,397 votes to 1,245.
Despite doing better in Lee County, Malloy still lost the race.
But given that state election officials say the difference is "drastic" between the two counts, a second recount may be in order.
The commission has requested Lee County election officials explain the difference between the original vote count and the total stated in the county's recount.
According to totals published by the state Election Commission, Chaplin received 129 fewer votes in Lee County's recount; Malloy gained 59.
Lee County Election Director Kaulonda Lewis said that her office "will work with [SCEC] to get any information they need over to them."
"There are a lot of wrong ways to do things right, but there is no right way to do things wrong," Malloy wrote in his protest letter to the Election Commission. "The results in District 29 are wrong."
"Vote totals significantly changed from the initial vote to the recount," the filing states. "Vote totals significantly decreased from the initial count to the recount."
The initial vote total for the two candidates was 49,729. The recount total was 49,642.
The filing claims "many material irregularities, errors, and problems.”
The protest centers on Malloy's race against Chaplin, who, following a recount that was certified last week, was declared the winner of the race by 87 votes. The original difference between the two candidates was 287 votes, across the five counties in District 29 — Lee, Sumter, Marlboro, Darlington and Chesterfield.
Almost 50,000 votes were cast for Malloy and Chaplin.
In a statement, Malloy said, “Election integrity and accuracy are the cornerstones of democracy. It is imperative to understand what happened here because every voter deserves to know their vote is counted fairly and accurately.”
He continued, “We are facing a situation that simply hasn’t happened before with our electronic voting systems. We need to take a closer look to ensure accuracy in this race and future elections. Clearly, everyone will benefit from understanding how this many errors were even possible and how we can fix it so this never happens again.”
In a statement, South Carolina Democratic Party Chair Christale Spain called the difference in the original vote count and the recount total "an unprecedented change without any explanation."
Spain said Malloy's protest is necessary to solidify the veracity of the count.
"We must be able to trust the integrity of our elections," she said.
In a statement posted by the South Carolina Republican Party on X, SCGOP Chairman Drew McKissick called Malloy's protest "a power grab" and called on Malloy to "stop being an election denier, do the right thing, and listen to the people for the first time in his career."
Malloy has served as the senator for District 29 for 22 years.
In a text, Chaplin stated, "Over two weeks of early voting and Election Day, Gerald Malloy raised zero concerns about the voting process. Now, former Senator Malloy is complaining because he lost. We must not tolerate election deniers who want to overturn the will of the people."
Chaplin maintains that he is the "duly elected and sworn-in senator for District 29" and says he looks "forward to serving the Pee Dee."
But the matter will not be formally settled until the protest is resolved by the state Election Commission. That will occur between 5 and 25 days of the filing of the protest, which was Tuesday.
A hearing on the protest has been set for Dec. 3.
