Richard Kerr is the rightful winner of the Georgetown County School Board District 6 race.
That is the decision handed down Tuesday by the South Carolina Election Commission during a hearing in Columbia.
The commission was considering an appeal by Kerr which was filed last week. He objected to the Nov. 19 decision by Georgetown County Board of Elections that a new election would be held.
Kerr’s opponent, Peggy Wheeler-Cribb, lost by 21 votes. She protested the election results claiming as many as 270 voters were given the wrong ballot and therefore may not have had the chance to vote in the race.
The local board sided with Cribb and ordered a new election.
The state board, on Tuesday, reviewed the transcript of the Nov. 19 hearing and then voted 5-0 to overturn the local board’s decision meaning no new election will take place.
After the hearing, Kerr told the Georgetown Times the state commission “got it right.”
“We knew we had a good, solid case or we would not have taken it to the state level,” he said, adding there was no evidence presented to prove anyone who would have voted for Cribb was given an incorrect ballot.
Cribb said she congratulated Kerr after the hearing and will not appeal the case to the state Supreme Court.
“I will continue to do what I do. I will continue to work in the schools where I am needed and continue to be an advocate for special needs children,” she said.
When asked if she plans to run for the “at large” school board seat that will be on the 2014 ballot, Cribb said “probably not.”
Kerr is expected to be sworn in and take his place on the board at the panel’s next meeting on January 8.
The seat has been held by Teresa Bennani whose term technically expired after the election but she did attend the Nov. 27 meeting to make sure that district had representation.
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com