The State Election Commission says Johnny Sellers, a candidate for House District 54, will be on the ballot for the district that includes parts of Marlboro, Darlington and Chesterfield counties. That's despite the fact that there's still confusion over whether he's actually eligible to run or not.
The Election Commission's decision came down just before 5 p.m. Thursday, after NewsChannel 15 spent the day trying to find out why Sellers was on the Marlboro County ballot and not on the ballots for Darlington and Chesterfield counties.
Last week, his name was removed from the state Democratic Party's list of eligible candidates following the state Supreme Court ruling. That ruling led to about 180 candidates being ineligible to be on the ballot because they either didn't file their required statement of economic interest properly or on time.
But the Marlboro County Democratic Party had Sellers' name on their list of eligible candidates, so Chris Whitmire, with the State Election Commission, says the state decided to put his name back on the master list, which would mean his name would be put on the ballots for all three counties.
Whitmire admits the situation is confusing, and says they plan to notify their counterparts in Darlington and Chesterfield counties that Sellers' name should be on the ballots there.
So far though, no one has been able to tell us for sure that Sellers filed the proper paperwork on time. Our calls to the Marlboro County Democratic Party have not been returned.
The incumbent for House District 54 is Elizabeth Munnerlyn. She is running for re-election.
