Sumter election commission denies dual candidate's protest

The Sumter County election commission denied a local candidate's protest of the Nov. 8 midterm election after a hearing.

Five members of Sumter County Voter Registration and Election Commission unanimously rejected dual candidate Reginald "Reggie" Evans' protest of the recent local election for lack of evidence to his claims in a hearing Monday at Sumter County Judicial Center.

A candidate in both the Sumter City Council Ward 1 race and Sumter school board's District 9 race, Evans contested the results in each election in a written letter to the commission on Nov. 10, two days after the election.

At the hearing, Evans speculated votes were not counted in both races because of low-voting tallies but provided no evidence of votes cast that were not counted.

Commission Chairman Goliath Brunson said Evans needed evidence to support his claims.

"You have not provided us evidence that proves contrary to the results," Brunson said. "In this situation here, it's been proven that the proper protocols were in place to make this voting process happen. Unless you can give us specific evidence of individuals who were denied the right to vote, you really have nothing to consider along those lines. Basically, you are giving us speculation as to what you think happened or what could have happened and all that stuff. But, unfortunately, our job is to deal with the facts. We can only deal with evidence put before us, and unfortunately, I don't see specific evidence backing your claims."

The hearing lasted about 40 minutes.