Their exit brings the number of resignations this week to three, an exodus that can be traced directly to Jill Miller's controversial hiring as executive director. The board now has four sitting members; it should have nine.

Local Democratic leaders pounced on the disarray, saying the Republican majority lawmakers who stacked the board with GOP appointees -- who then hired an inexperienced TV reporter to run the elections office -- are to blame.

"The Republican delegation has gotten everything they wanted up until now and look where we are," said county Democratic Party Chairman Mullins McLeod. "We've got a fractured commission, there's infighting and we're less than 90 days from a presidential election."

In a rare display of cross-party agreement, Republican state Rep. John Graham Altman agreed with McLeod, saying the legislative effort that combined the county's two election offices last year has proven to be a disaster.

"The Democrats are exactly correct," said Altman, R-Charleston. "The commission is in meltdown, and it's only going to get worse."

The board oversees all aspects of elections, including finding poll workers, positioning voting machines in precincts, legally certifying results, and acting as the first level of appeal in an election dispute involving voters or candidates.

The members who resigned Thursday are Edith Bussey and Thelma Stewart. They join former Chairman Roy DeHaven in leaving the board after losing what DeHaven described as a power struggle with Miller.

The political irony is that Bussey, Stewart and DeHaven are Republican allies who supported hiring Miller, a former TV reporter, as director even though she had no previous experience in running elections.

DeHaven resigned earlier this week, saying that other board members were supporting Miller on key decisions and that he could no longer continue to serve effectively as chairman if he were on the losing side of votes.

Miller said she doubted the resignations would affect the Nov. 2 election, adding there is plenty of time for lawmakers to find replacements. A meeting for that purpose has been called for Tuesday.

Miller said she didn't initiate the squabble and that DeHaven tried to micromanage some election office operations; for example, by giving orders directly to clerks. His actions violated county policy that says workers should go through the chain of command, she said.

Miller said she never forbade office workers to talk to DeHaven or other board members.

"I just asked them to go through me so that I'm in the loop," Miller said, adding "I can't believe that they would go out of their way to sabotage" the office.

An office clerk whom Miller described as having close ties to DeHaven and Stewart also quit Thursday.

Bussey and Stewart both cited health concerns in their resignation letters. Bussey's letter was signed by her attorney. "Recent events have brought unnecessary harassment and difficulties which have adversely affected Mrs. Bussey's health," said attorney Conrad Falkiewicz.

Before Thursday's resignations, lawmakers already had taken notice of the growing rift at the elections office. Immediately after DeHaven resigned, state Rep. Chip Limehouse, R-Charleston, chairman of the county legislative delegation, called a special meeting for Tuesday to pick a new chairman.

What will happen at that meeting in regard to the other vacancies is unclear, but state Sen. Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, said lawmakers have been put in a bind by the chain of events. Both the House and Senate are up for re-election this year and will be on the Charleston County ballot, which any newly appointed board members will oversee.

"The delegation appoints them, but we can't micromanage," he said, adding "I don't think anybody bargained for this sort of upheaval."

Altman said some of his dissatisfaction stems from the fact an experienced bureaucrat with deep knowledge of elections was not hired at the outset as the office director.

Rep. David Mack, D-North Charleston, said that on Tuesday he wants at least one more Democrat named to the board, which leans heavily Republican.

Last year, the voter registration office and the county election commission were combined into one office by act of the state Legislature. Lawmakers said previous Charleston elections had been plagued by problems and they wanted a single county Board of Elections and Voter Registration. Since then, Democrats have challenged the combination in court. That case is pending.

Although there are only four members left serving on the nine-member body, at least two of those vacancies could soon be filled. Lawmakers last month approved two nominations to the board: Republican Michael Surles and Democrat Flora Condon. Both are soon expected to get the necessary approval from the governor's office.

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