Voters returned to the polls on Nov. 18 as some races headed to runoff elections. 

One hundred fifty municipalities in the state use a majority-runoff system. Under this system, if no candidate wins a majority (at least 50% plus one vote), a runoff election is held two weeks later to determine the winner.

In the Town of Gilbert’s 2025 General Election on Nov. 4, there were 70 write-in votes for the two town council seats. The two write-in candidates were Keith Powell and Patrick Carson.

In the Town of Batesburg-Leesville, David W. Bouknight led the race on Nov. 4, receiving 42% of the votes cast, with Steven “Steve” Cain earning 29%.

Official results show that Bouknight won the mayoral seat, earning 718 votes across the two counties, making up for 63% of the vote. Cain earned 413 votes across the two counties, making up for 36% of the vote. 

In a prior interview with the Chronicle, Bouknight said his priorities as mayor are to create opportunities for young people to stay in the area, make area salaries competitive in order to attract and retain talent to the town, and ensure there is government transparency so that residents are informed of council decisions.

Bouknight said the town is expecting growth in the coming years. He said growth is good when controlled and when a plan is set. He emphasized the importance of having a plan and having a handle on the growth before it reaches the town.

Cain will remain on the town council representing District Three, after receiving 69.72% of the votes cast on Nov. 4, defeating his opponent, Tyler List, who earned 30.28% of the votes.

A special election will be held Jan. 17 for the District Two seat, previously held by Bouknight.

Runoff elections and special elections are very costly for towns and cities.

Municipalities, however, can amend their ordinances from majority to plurality systems, which could decrease costs.

In 2018, the state of South Carolina spent more than $830,000 on primary runoffs and more than $1 million in 2022. Data show that runoffs generally have much lower turnout.

A runoff also occurred for the vacant District 88 seat in Lexington County between Republicans John Lastinger and Brian Duncan. Lastinger won the runoff election and will face Democrat Joseph “Chuck” Hightower in a special election on Dec. 23.

In February 2025, the Town of Irmo passed a resolution supporting Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). Currently, the town uses a plurality voting system, where the candidate with the most votes wins even if they do not receive over 50% of the votes cast. This can limit costly runoff elections.

IRV doesn’t require runoff elections and allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the vote in the first round, they win. If no one reaches 50% plus one vote, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the process continues — redistributing votes based on rankings — until a candidate achieves a majority.

In other words, if the first-choice candidate on a ballot is eliminated for having received the fewest votes overall, the second-choice candidate on that ballot receives that vote. This process continues until a candidate receives more than 50% of the ballots cast.

This story has been updated.