COLUMBIA - By an overwhelming vote, the South Carolina Democratic Party Executive Committee voted Tuesday to hold a new hearing in Marion County Sheriff W.L. “Billy” Page’s original protest of his June 22 primary runoff loss to challenger Mark Richardson.

The committee met to hear Page’s appeal of the Marion County Democratic Party’s recent decision to certify the results of the runoff.

After a four-hour hearing at the University of South Carolina Law School, the committee voted 28-4 to hold a “de novo” hearing within the next two weeks. The hearing means the state committee will essentially start from scratch, hearing evidence and witnesses originally presented to the Marion County Democratic Party’s Executive Committee.

The controversy began when Page protested the results of the June 22 Democratic runoff, in which he finished second to Richardson by 75 votes. The Marion County Democratic Party voted on July 1 not to certify the results after Page’s protest. But after hearing Richardson’s appeal of that decision on July 9, the state Democratic Party Executive Committee voted to send the case back to Marion County, saying the county’s committee never made a decision whether to have a new election or not.

The Marion County Democratic Party voted 7-6 last week to certify the results of the June 22 primary, declaring Richardson the winner. The committee deadlocked 6-6, forcing Chairman Ulysses Grant Sweeney to cast the deciding vote.

Page’s attorney, Brenda Reddix-Smalls, said she was pleased with the committee’s decision to hold a new hearing. “They are a party now of rules and law and they’re going to clear this matter de novo, as it should be,” she said.

Reddix-Smalls will represent Page in the new hearing. The Rev. Franklin Briggs represented Page in the original hearing.

Richardson said he was disappointed with the decision. “It’s just prolonging things,” he said. “There’s no evidence there. ... They haven’t presented anything at all. We’ll come back in two weeks so the committee will hear no evidence at that time. The only thing they brought to issue (at the original protest hearing) was a poll manager’s form. They’re not complaining that it was wrong, they’re complaining that they didn’t get a copy. And that’s not enough evidence to overturn an election.”

In calling for a new hearing, state committee members raised concerns about Reddix-Smalls’ argument that the Marion Democratic Party Executive Committee that voted to certify the election last week was illegally constituted, in that members who were not there for the original protest hearing voted. Another concern was the indecision at the original protest hearing, in that the county committee voted not to certify the election but did not vote to hold a new election.

Executive committee members also discussed whether they should order a new election and therefore wash their hands of the situation.

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