New council members in Gray Court, Waterloo after special elections Tuesday

Laurens County, South Carolina – The town councils of Waterloo  and Gray Court each have a new council member after a special election was held Tuesday, Jan. 20 in the two Laurens County towns.

In Gray Court, Brian Shumpert was the only candidate on the ballot, yet according to the county’s unofficial vote totals, his 11 votes were not enough to win, as a write-in candidate won the election in the plurality vote system.

Write-in contender Charles Thomas won the seat with 23 votes.

In Waterloo, one of the candidates on the ballot did win handily, in spite of opposition both on the ballot and by a write-in contender.

In Waterloo, Christine C. Bates won the council seat with 21 votes to Wesley Underwood’s 3 votes. They both faced write-in challenger Reggie Frazier Jr., who garnered 5 votes, according to the county’s unofficial vote tally.

Both the elections were based on a plurality form of election, said Lynne West, director of Laurens County Voter Registration and Elections, which means the person with the highest number of votes wins, thus preventing the need for a run-off election. It saves the towns money since the town governments have to pay for the costs of the election.