Camden County elections board pre‑certifies June 16 runoff, advances recall petition for Woodbine councilman

Camden County’s elections board voted at its meeting to pre‑certify the June 16 general primary runoff and to advance one recall petition for further processing after staff verification.

Acting Supervisor Carter told the board the elections office had reviewed the list of voters credited with voting and compared that to ballots received and that “we have” completed the review. Carter said there were no provisional ballots requiring board approval and that two UOCAVA ballots remained outstanding; one voter indicated they would not return the ballot and one could not be contacted. The board then moved and approved pre‑certification by voice vote.

Carter explained the office verified recall‑petition signatures under code 21‑4‑5 and its subsection F2, saying the staff “confirmed the signers were one, qualified to vote in Camden County, and two, they were residents in the municipality of Woodbine.” Under the applicable code, the initial threshold for the petitions was 73 signatures (the lesser of 100 or 10% of the voters from the last time the official was on the ballot), the office reported.

A board member, Brad, stated the recall petition against Woodbine councilmember Phyllis Drummond did not meet the 73‑signature threshold. The petition against Woodbine Mayor Kizzy Knight likewise failed to meet the threshold and was treated as legally non‑germane, so the board did not take a vote on those two applications.

Staff reported that the recall petition for Woodbine councilmember Richard Beard met the threshold: the office vetted 118 signatures for that petition. The board moved to accept that verified petition and approved the motion by voice vote. The board also voted to direct Acting Supervisor Carter to issue formal recall petitions for Beard and to take the next administrative steps in the recall process.

The county attorney told the board the office had followed the required procedures and said, “Judge Harrison had granted that order.” The attorney added that Councilman Baird had filed an objection that had not yet been served on the county and that the attorney would notify the board if the matter is set for hearing.

A board member later sought clarification about the next petition stage; staff explained a later petition requirement would be 30% of registered voters (30% of 733 equals 220 signatures), which the board cited as a procedural threshold for later stages.

The board recessed the meeting at 3:10 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.; the recess motion passed by voice vote. The office reported no further provisional ballots to present at that time and said it would notify the board of any new developments, including service of objections or scheduling of hearings.