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Horry County Republicans seek investigation of June 28 runoff, major changes to how South Carolina elections are handled

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry County Republicans have approved a resolution asking for an investigation into the county’s June 28 runoff election and major changes to how elections are handled in South Carolina.

Party Chairman Roger Slagle plans to present the resolution to Horry County Council members during their meeting Tuesday night. The party unanimously approved the resolution on Aug. 1 that focused on a mistake by the Horry County Board of Voters Registration and Elections office that resulted in nearly 1,400 Democrat ballots being mailed to voters who had requested Republican ballots.

Corrected ballots were mailed out before the June 28 runoff, but Mark Lazurus, who lost the runoff for Horry County Council chair to incumbent Johnny Gardner, challenged the results, saying that those who originally got the wrong ballots did not have enough time to send in the corrected ones.

Lazarus eventually dropped his appeals.

The resolution asks for an investigation by the Horry County Council, the Horry County Sheriff and the District 15 Solicitor’s Office, citing “numerous instances of flaws in electronic voting equipment, specifically in South Carolina and generally throughout the United States.”

The resolution also asks the South Carolina General Assembly to “dissolve” and “defund” the State Election Commission and transfer election responsibilities to the Secretary of State’s office.

It also asks the Legislature to “do everything in its power to complete all ongoing investigations” of the 2020 presidential election and to make it illegal to use electronic voting machines in the state.

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