Don't Forget About the Runoff Election Next Week

CHARLESTON - City Council District 11 voters will head back to the voting booth next Tuesday to choose the winner of a runoff election between Bill Moody and Laura Dukes Beck.

None of the three candidates running for the seat received more than 50 percent of the votes cast on election day leading to next week's runoff between the top two vote-getters. Moody finished with 43.39 percent of the vote, Beck got 31.15 percent and Andy Brack wound up with 25.27 percent.

Moody and Beck have been courting Brack voters since the results came in, with Beck pointing out that she and Brack took similar positions on many issues in the campaign, and Moody highlighting the difference between himself and Beck over completing I-526, which he unequivocally supports. Beck has taken a more nuanced position on 526 suggesting alternatives to completing the interstate loop as planned.

Brack has declined to endorse either candidate in the runoff.

Voters in seven West Ashley precincts and five James Island precints are elligible to vote next Tuesday, according to Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration Executive Director Joseph Debney. Polls will be open 7 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Debney was unsure of the cost of holding the runoff, but added the largest expense will be paying poll workers for the day. Each Poll Manager receives $120 for their work, while each Poll Clerk earns $160, he said.

"We have multiple Poll Managers at each site and one Clerk," Debney said. "You can blame the legislature for the confusion on the names."

District 11 covers most of West Ashley south of Savannah Highway and portions of James Island. The following West Ashley precincts will be open for voters Tuesday, Nov. 22.