Democrats Call For McBride's Ouster as RichCo Elections Head

The pressure on Lillian McBride, the Director of Richland County Elections and Voter Registration, is mounting.

Today, two Democrats on the Richland County Legislative Delegation have called for McBride to be replaced. Reps. James Smith and Beth Bernstein joined Republican Rep. Nathan Ballentine and Sen. John Courson in calling for McBride's removal.

The announcements by Smith and Bernstein come on the heels of , who said she had “lost confidence” in McBride’s ability to continue as Director.

View a copy of Crum's resignation later, obtained by Corey Hutchins of The Free Times.

Today, Smith told Patch, “There needs to be a change in leadership at Elections and Voter Registration.” Smith said Crum’s resignation him “a greater sense of urgency to make sure we restore the trust of voters.”

Bernstein was elected in November and was not in office when McBride was appointed to her current position. "It would have been irresponsible of me to make a decision on Ms. McBride without having heard all the information. But based on what I've seen in the preliminary report and what I've heard from Ms. Crum, I believe that Ms. McBride must be replaced if we are to regain the confidence of voters."

Bernstein told Patch she is still receiving complaints from constituents about the problems on Election Day and the failure of anyone to be held accountable for them.

Previously, Courson and Ballentine called for McBride to be replaced. They are the two of the three Republicans (the other is Kirkman Finlay) in the fifteen-member Legislative Delegation. Democrats Mia McLeod and Todd Rutherford have also been critical of McBride.

When contacted last evening, Antjuan Seawright, spokesperson for the chair of the delegation, Sen. Darrell Jackson, said he would have no comment until after tomorrow’s regularly scheduled meeting.

At tomorrow’s meeting, the Legislative Delegation will hear from Attorney Steve Hamm, who has been investigating the issues regarding the election at the request of the Commission. It is believed that the delegation will also have a vote of "confidence/no confidence" regarding McBride.

Last month Attorney General Alan Wilson ruled that only the Commission has the authority to hire or fire McBride. Were the Delegation to interfere with the Commission’s authority it would almost certainly result in lawsuits, according to sources, so the most the delegtion can do is issue a confidence/no confidence vote.

Sources told Patch that Crum’s resignation revealed a split within the five-member Commission. Crum was in the minority of those who thought McBride needed to be replaced and, seeing that no action would be taken, she decided to step down.

See full coverage of the Richland County Election debacle HERE.

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