With all actions in state and federal courts resolved, Gov. Mark Sanford ordered Tuesday a new S.C. Senate District 30 primary election be held Sept. 28.

If a runoff is necessary, it will be conducted two weeks after the election, on Oct. 12.

State election officials could not be reached Tuesday to clarify who will be allowed to vote in the new election, but area officials said they expect that those who voted in the Republican primary in June will not be allowed to vote in the new election. They said that most likely only those who voted in the Democratic primary and those who didn’t vote in any primary will be allowed to participate.

Sanford’s order was the culmination of months of controversy in the District 30 Senate race between incumbent Maggie Glover and challengers Tim Norwood and Kent Williams. The controversy surrounding the June 8 District 30 Democratic primary began immediately after the votes were counted.

While Glover took first place in the race with 35 percent of the vote, the initial election night count showed a dead heat between Norwood and Williams, with Norwood ahead by seven votes. The June 9 certification of the election results, however, produced a different result, with six votes separating Norwood and Williams.

According to state law, a mandatory recount of the vote must be held by individual county election commissions if less than 1 percent of the total vote separates two candidates. On June 12, the election results were sent for certification to the state Election Commission, which ordered the recount.

The recount was held June 14, and the results differed again. This time, the count showed Williams ahead of Norwood by six votes.

Meanwhile, Williams filed an election protest with the S.C. Democratic Party, alleging several instances of voter fraud and irregularities in the counting of absentee ballots. Norwood filed a protest of his own and was heard June 16 after Williams withdrew his protest.

Based on evidence presented by Norwood, the S.C. Democratic Party Executive Committee voted 18-3 to void the results of the June 8 primary and to ask Gov. Mark Sanford to order a special election. The committee also voted to turn over all the evidence presented by Norwood to the State Law Enforcement Division for investigation.

After the executive committee made its decision, Williams and Glover filed petitions with the S.C. Supreme Court, asking it to throw out the party’s invalidation of the election. They asked the court to order a runoff election between them. The Supreme Court refused to hear either of the petitions.

Glover also filed suit in federal court, alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, violations of the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the U.S. Constitution, and violations of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

On Friday, District Judge Terry L. Wooten granted summary judgement for the defendants in the lawsuit, the primary of which was the S.C. Democratic Party, ruling that the record fails to reflect any “denial or abridgement” of any citizen’s right to vote.

“If a new primary is held, all eligible citizens will once again be afforded the right to vote for the candidate of their choice,” Wooten said. “Each of the plaintiffs who testified in this case indicated that they would vote in any new election set. There has been no showing by the plaintiffs that they or others would be denied the right to vote on account of their race and/or color in a new primary election.”

Norwood said he was pleased the governor acted expediently and immediately set a date for the new election.

“We’re just glad the people will get the opportunity to make a decision for new leadership in District 30,” Norwood said. “In the initial primary, 64 percent of the voters voted for a change. Now they’ll get the chance to speak their minds again.

“We think the voters know who they’re going to vote for. It was just a matter of setting the date so they can cast their votes.”

Williams agreed and said he’ll be ready when the polls open Sept. 28.

“It’s not like we’re starting the campaign from scratch,” he said. “We’ve been out here working for months so if we can’t do it in three weeks, we’ll never do it. We’re ready to get this thing over with and let the people speak again.”

Glover was not available for comment Tuesday.

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