Council election recounts to be held

Mandatory recounts will be held today in the Mount Pleasant and Isle of Palms municipal elections, but the county's director of elections does not expect the outcomes to change.

State law requires a recount when the winning and losing candidates are separated by less than 1 percent of the vote. In Mount Pleasant and on Isle of Palms, the fifth-place finishers in multi-candidate contests for four council seats were close enough to the unofficial winners to trigger recounts.

Charleston County uses electronic voting machines, so the only votes to recount are absentee ballots that were sent by mail, according to Marilyn Bowers, executive director of the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration.

"We do not expect any change in the winners," Bowers said. "There are not enough to make a difference.

"State law mandates it, so we have to do it," she said.

In both municipalities, voters were choosing four council candidates in Tuesday's election, with the offices going to the top four vote-getters. In both elections, the fifth- highest vote total was close enough to require a recount.

In the Isle of Palms race, candidate Barb Gobien trailed unofficial winner Sandy Stone by 28 votes. In Mount Pleasant, the gap was 226 votes between unofficial victor Craig Rhyne and fifth-place finisher David Kent.

The results of elections throughout Charleston County also are scheduled to be certified today, making the winners official.