Unofficial results from a special primary election held Tuesday show a runoff will be required to determine the Republican nominee for the Greenville County Council. District 26 seat.
Lynn Ballard, a former rural mail carrier, was the front runner of the four Republicans in the race with 304 votes of 625 votes cast, approximately 49 percent, just short of the required 50 percent plus one to win.
It wasn’t clear as of press time who Ballard will face in the runoff. Todd Frederick and Ed Poore had just one vote difference, 120 to 119. The numbers do not include two “challenged ballots,” in which poll workers weren’t sure the voters were registered.
The two challenged ballots, which could determine the second-place finisher, won’t be opened until Thursday according to Conway Belangia, Greenville County elections director. Buddy Dyer had 79 votes.
The winner of the runoff, which will be held June 10 will face Democrat candidate Windell Rodgers in a special election on June 17 to decide who represents District 26 through the remainder of 2014.
A second election is scheduled to decide who represents the district for a four-year term that begins Jan. 1, and the same candidates – four Republicans and one Democrat – are scheduled to be on the ballot
For the second contest, the Republican primary is June 10 and the runoff, if necessary, on June 24.
The winner of the second Republican primary will face Rodgers in the general election on Nov. 4.
The elections became necessary when former District 26 representative Dan Rawls died in February before completing his first four-year term.
The South Greenville District stretches from Piedmont to the Laurens County line to Simpsonville, including the communities of Ware Place, Fork Shoals, Dunklin and Moonville.
