NO SERIOUSLY … THAT’S THE TOTAL NUMBER OF BALLOTS THAT WERE CAST
|| By FITSNEWS || We’ve never been to West Union, S.C. – a town of roughly 300 people located in the socially conservative Upstate region of South Carolina.
We hear it’s like most rural Palmetto State towns … long on poverty, short on income. Long on opportunity, short on education.
Anyway, the town (which is actually located in Oconee County, not Union County) held an election last week for a vacant seat on its town council – and the race was decided by twelve votes. Except when we say it was “decided by twelve votes,” we mean only twelve people bothered to show up and vote.
No candidate filed for the seat, which became vacant when a sitting councilman moved outside of the town limits.
As a result, twelve write-in ballots decided the contest – with the winning candidate, Kelley Weiser, receiving seven of those votes. Two other candidates split the other five ballots.
Democracy in action, right?
No word yet on what Weiser plans to do with her “mandate.”
Of interest? West Union’s voter participation rate in this candidate-less election was actually ten percent … which isn’t too far below the participation rate of last year’s “Republican” statewide primary, in which hundreds of candidates appeared on ballots across the state.
8 comments
Taking in account everything this site has stated about South Carolina’s failed Educational System I am pleased to learn that 12 voters were able to write down a name and for it to be accepted as a valid write-in vote
“We hear it’s like most rural Palmetto State towns … long on poverty, short on income”….
Do you NEVER get tired of the lame, empty-headed cliche?
Also: If it’s truly (politically) Conservative, I doubt it’s long on poverty. Most impoverished are in Democrat areas.
PS: Check out Springdale’s last (2013) election margin. It may be a good idea to know about your state, if you are going to constantly bash it, using any springboard to do so.
The median income for a household in the town was $24,250, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income for the town was $13,753. About 18.9% of families and 27.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 43.1% of those under the age of eighteen and 2.9% of those sixty five or over.
By the way how are thing out on Bub Shumpert Rd. Are you still living in the basement of the singlewide?
Having participated in small town politics in the past, I can say agreeing to be on a town council in a town of 300 is about the dumbest thing you can do. Everything that doesn’t go right, even if there is no way to make it go right is your fault. There are no thank yous, and no benefits. Its like voluntarily going out and picking up trash on the road, and having people criticize you for missing a few pieces.
Greenville City had an 8% turnout last week in a City Council primary which included a city-wide race and a district race.
West Union had a higher percentage.
“we mean only twelve people bothered to show up and vote.”
Those in the town might lack a traditional education, and there might be poverty…but they certainly have common sense and/or have better things to do with their time than putting a rubber stamp on a charade.
The town shares a boundary with Walhalla, which has a population of 4,256. Obviously, the town should be unincorporated and then annexed by Walhalla, but I think they want to avoid the higher taxes.
Had dealings with West Union. People were moving into a mobile home subdivision without water meters. Water hoses were connected for several hundred feet across neighboring lots.
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