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Camden County board advances recall petition for Woodbine councilman Richard Beard; two other petitions failed threshold
Summary
The Camden County election office verified signatures for three Woodbine recall petitions, finding petitions for Phyllis Drummond and Mayor Kizzy Knight below the required threshold and Richard Beard's petition sufficient (118 vetted signatures). The board directed the election supervisor to issue recall papers for Beard; a council objection was reported as filed.
The Camden County Election Board reviewed recall petition applications filed against three Woodbine officials and directed issuance of recall petitions for one of the three. Acting Supervisor Carter told the board the office had determined the initial signature threshold was 73 under code 21-4-5 subparagraph C and verified signatures according to code 21-4-5 subsection F2.
Carter reported that the petition for Woodbine City Council member Phyllis Drummond did not meet the 73-signature threshold and that the petition for Woodbine Mayor Kizzy Knight similarly failed to reach the required number of signatures. Carter said the petition against Council member Richard Beard met the threshold; the office vetted 118 signatures and presented that finding to the board.
A board member asked for clarification of the board's role in this step. The board member explained the board's responsibility is limited to checking legal sufficiency and whether required fields and the signature-count requirement are met; it is not the body that adjudicates substantive objections to the petition's merits. After receiving the verification, a motion to accept the sufficiency of Council member Beard's petition was moved, seconded and passed.
Later in the meeting, Acting Supervisor Rock clarified a different numeric requirement for a subsequent phase of the petition process: "The number of signatures required would be 30% of the registered voters. At that time there was 733. So therefore the number of voters signatures required would be 220." The transcript presents that 30% figure as part of the petition process discussion and distinct from the earlier 73-signature threshold used for initial verification.
The county attorney said the office had followed procedure and noted Judge Harrison had granted an order related to the timeline; the attorney also reported that Councilman Baird had filed an objection to the next step and that, to the attorney's knowledge, the objection had not yet been served on the county board. The attorney said the board would be notified if a hearing is set.
The board then voted to direct Acting Election Supervisor Carter to issue recall petitions for Council member Beard. The motion passed with no opposition recorded during the vote at the meeting.
The board's action moves Beard's petition to the next administrative step; the objection reported by Councilman Baird and any subsequent hearing or legal action will determine whether the recall proceeds.
