GOP voters back partisan elections for school board – Coastal Observer

GOP voters back partisan elections for school board – Coastal Observer

A majority of Georgetown County Republican primary voters supported the idea of turning school board elections partisan. An advisory question on the Republican primary ballot asked voters if candidates for school board should “be able to run as a candidate of the political party of their choice.” In Georgetown County, 77,1 percent of GOP primary voters, 6,496, said they should. That was slightly lower that percentage of statewide approval. “Platform is what’s important,” said Karol Anderson, who chairs the county GOP. A bill filed in the state House would require all candidates for the 72 school boards in the state to be elected in partisan contests.  Horry County is the only district that currently holds partisan school board elections. Of its 12 trustees, 10 are Republican and two are Democrat. School board elections in Georgetown County have been nonpartisan since 2008. It is one of 19 districts in the state that use a combination of single-member and at-large members. Chairman Keith Moore said education should not be mixed with politics. “I like having a nonpartisan school board, as it is,” Moore said. “Nobody looks at me as a Democrat or Republican. They look at me as a board member. I represent everybody,” Board Member Randy Walker said. The bill to require partisan elections was sent to the House Judiciary Committee. Marilyn Hemingway, who chairs the county Democratic Party, said she doesn’t have any problems with partisan school board elections. The Democrats didn’t have advisory questions on their primary ballots. Declaring a party means taking ownership for one’s values, Hemingway said. “Sometimes ‘nonpartisan’ is a wink-wink to certain entities to get what they want, and you don’t necessarily have to declare what you really stand on,” she said. “People assume that you’re neutral when you’re not.” Walker was concerned that voters would only focus on the chosen party rather than the  candidate’s values. “People will be doing it by the label, Democrat or Republican,” Walker said. “People will be voting for you by that and not for what you stand for.” The school board voted in 2008 to change from a partisan nine-member at-large voting system to a nonpartisan seven single-member districts with two at-large seats. The districts mirror the seven County Council districts, which council adopted in 1984. Former state Rep. Vida Miller introduced a bill in 2003 to change the school board makeup that was passed in the state House but blocked in the Senate. It was tabled by Sen. Arthur Ravenel, a Republican whose party had just won a majority of seats on the school board at the time. The county legislative delegation also tried to change school board elections to a nonpartisan format in 1994.