LAKE CITY, S.C. — The Florence County Board of Elections will hold a formal hearing at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13, on a protest of the Lake City mayoral election. Mayor Yamekia Robinson filed the protest and wants the board to order a runoff.
The board scheduled the hearing at a meeting Nov. 10. Members went straight into executive session to get legal advice, then voted to move ahead with the hearing at the county elections office on Third Loop Road in Florence.
Robinson and former Mayor LaRue Alford, who would be her opponent in a runoff, will both be able to make their case to the board. Alford led the field with 785 votes. Robinson was second with 584. Neither candidate reached 50% of the votes cast.
The dispute turns on the language of Lake City election rules. Robinson points to a city ordinance that first names the candidate with the most votes the winner, then says the winner needs at least half of all ballots cast, so she says a runoff is required. Alford and city staff say the nonpartisan plurality method applies, which would make Alford the winner outright with no second round.
Alford was in the room Nov. 10 and chose not to comment. Robinson was not there because the Lake City council was meeting at the same time, and she has said she is grateful for the chance to be heard Friday.
The hearing is expected to settle how the city rules apply to the 2026 mayoral race and whether a runoff will be held.
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