COLUMBIA, S.C. — A recount hearing has been set for a Richland County State House primary where just four votes separated the candidates.
The Richland County Election Commission announced the hearing Friday for the Republican South Carolina House District 70 primary.
In Tuesday's race, official results show Kizzie Smalls got 50.26% of the vote compared to William Treadway's 49.74%. However, Smalls got only four more total votes: she had 383, while Treadway had 379.
Under state law, a recount is necessary when the difference between two candidates is less than one percent of total votes cast.
The hearing will be at 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Richland County Administration Building in the Fourth Floor Conference Room. That's located at 2020 Hampton Street in Columbia.
The recount will be certified during the hearing. The winner will challenge Democratic incumbent Kambrell Garvin in November.
House District 77 is in northern Richland County and stretches from I-77 near Blythewood over to Monticello Road.
The Richland County Election Commission also announced Thursday that State Rep. Jermaine Johnson is the winner of the South Carolina House District 70 primary. He faced State Rep. Wendy Brawley in that contest along with Bridgette Larry.
Johnson got 50.11% of the vote to Brawley's 47.80%.
Johnson and Brawley, both incumbents, were put in the same district due to the redrawn House voting lines approved by the state legislature during the redistricting process earlier this year. However, there was a legal challenge to those lines claiming the changes discriminated against Black voters. A settlement was reached in May between the state and the ACLU that will require the state to go back and adjust the lines.
Those changes, however, have not been finalized and would not go into effect until 2024, meaning the lines already approved are in effect for this election cycle.