Two Orangeburg Consolidated School District 5 trustees who lost their bids for re-election filed formal protests Wednesday, contesting the results of last week's election.

Board Chairman Dr. Kalu Kalu and trustee Samuel Farlow both believe there were irregularities in the election. They allege everything from voting machine malfunction to harassment in their protests.

"Winning or losing an election may be dignified if the process has no shadow of ambiguity. The Nov. 6, 2007 OCSD 5 school board election did leave room for some doubts, and may have not lived up to its expectation," Kalu said.

The protest hearings will take place next Monday before the Orangeburg County Elections Board.

Meanwhile, District 5 spokesman Greg Carson said the district is awaiting guidance from its attorney on how to proceed now that the protests have been filed. The district had planned to swear in the new members on Monday, Nov. 19.

In last Tuesday's election, Kalu received 507 votes to Lisa Thomas Jenkins' 569 votes, with two other candidates also in the running for seat 3. In the race for OCSD 5 seat 2, Robert "Bo" Gathers received 446 votes to Farlow's 423.

Kalu cited five areas of concern regarding the election.

He said that a voting machine was still present at Nix Elementary School a week after the election. He wants to know if votes cast on it were not counted.

Kalu said his name did not appear at precincts where it should have and that some machines malfunctioned for a period of time, causing some of his supporters to leave without casting a vote.

He also questions whether Jenkins needed more than 50 percent of the vote to win. Jenkins received 46 percent of the final vote to Kalu's 42 percent. Kalu's protest statement said that 51 percent has been required to win an Orangeburg school board election since 1988.

"If the rule has changed, I would like to see some type of documentation as to the change," he said.

The S.C. Code of Laws regarding nonpartisan municipal elections section 5-15-61 states, "When more than one person is seeking election to a single office, the candidate who receives the highest number of votes shall be declared elected."

Kalu also claims he received a letter at his home that suggested that one of his supporters passed out campaign literature illegally on school grounds where the election was held. Last week, Kalu said he heard that a supporter of one of his challengers did the same.

The letter said a protest should have been issued over Kalu's campaign tactics, which the letter's author said should damage his credibility and cost him a fine. Kalu said the letter was the final prompt in him filing the protest motion.

Farlow claims one of his supporters was harassed twice by a man telling him to vote for Gathers at the Limestone precinct. Farlow claims the supporter said the unknown man even followed him into the voting booth.

"This action is contrary to state law," Farlow said. He claims that the supporter is willing to te.jpgy about what happened at the precinct.

Farlow also said there are discrepancies in the number of people signing in at various precincts and the number of people who actually voted. Farlow declined to cite specific precincts until the hearing.

Farlow said that his protest has nothing to do with either him or Gathers. He said it is based on people having the right to vote without harassment and every person having the right to have their voice heard.

"I do not believe that either of these was accomplished in the election for school board seat 2 on last Tuesday," he said.

Gathers said it is Farlow's democratic right to contest the election, but that it will not affect him in any way.

"I want to thank the community for their support, they have spoken. It is time to turn the page. I can't afford to sit and worry about this because I won't. What I will do on Nov. 19th is show up to assume my board seat," Gathers said.

A call to Jenkins' home was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The protest hearings will be held Monday, Nov. 19, at the Orangeburg County Administrative Centre. Farlow's hearing will take place at 10 a.m. and Kalu's hearing is scheduled for 2 p.m.

During the hearings, both Farlow and Kalu can call witnesses on their behalf. Those witnesses will be placed under oath and can also be questioned by members of the Orangeburg County Elections Board.

Kalu and Farlow are allowed to only bring forth arguments they raised in their formal protest motions at the hearings. After arguments are heard, members of the Elections Board will vote on whether to accept the protest motions.

If either motion is approved, a new election will be ordered. If they are denied, the original election results will be upheld. A denial of the protest motion can be appealed to the S.C. Election Commission.

T&D Staff Writer Lee Tant can be reached by e-mail at ltant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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