Roddey doesn’t appeal Chester County vote; Stuart to become supervisor

“That removes the last hurdle.”

That’s how Shane Stuart described the feeling when noon rolled around on Wednesday. The deadline for an appeal of Stuart’s win in last week’s special election for Chester County supervisor passed without any action from defeated incumbent Carlisle Roddey, paving the way for Stuart to assume office on Thursday.

Roddey, who refused to concede after he lost by a mere 352 votes in the March 3 election, had the option of appealing, which could have delayed the final outcome for weeks, potentially taking his case all the way to the S.C. Supreme Court. Had Roddey appealed, he would have remained in the supervisor’s office at least until the appeal was settled.

But the deadline passed without Stuart or Chester County election officials receiving any notification of a pending appeal. Without that hurdle, Stuart is scheduled to take the oath of office at 9 a.m. Thursday in the county council chambers at the building that bears the name of his former opponent, the R. Carlisle Roddey Government Complex.

Almost immediately after getting sworn in, Stuart will begin work as the new county supervisor. He’s already met with several department heads to set the tone for their new working relationship.

After nearly 30 years working under Roddey’s administration, county employees “are a little concerned about having a new leader,” Stuart said.

Roddey could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

The state’s election appeals process is responsible for Stuart taking office now – and for last week’s election. Stuart challenged Roddey’s narrow victory in November over voting irregularities in nearly half the county’s precincts, and in December the S.C. Election Commission ordered a new election.

In a sign of the changing times, one of the 41-year-old Stuart’s first actions will be setting up a computer monitor in Roddey’s former office. The 77-year-old Roddey apparently didn’t use a desktop, unlike the more tech-savvy Stuart.

“I’m going to use dual monitors,” he said. “I can work about 40 percent faster that way.”

This story was originally published March 11, 2015 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Roddey doesn’t appeal Chester County vote; Stuart to become supervisor."