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A South Carolina county council leader is accusing one of his newly elected colleagues of voter fraud – and asking local election officials to investigate whether he is a registered elector in the district which just installed him as its representative.
The scandal could result in an effort to oust the board member before they even assume office…
Incoming Laurens County council chairman W. Brown Patterson Jr. submitted a public letter to the county’s voter registration and election commission last Friday (January 3, 2025) challenging the registration of both Cassandra Philson and Arthur Lee Philson Jr. of Clinton, S.C.
“I believe they have falsified information and perjured themselves when signing documentation with your office,” Patterson wrote in his letter (.pdf).
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Arthur Lee Philson Jr. defeated incumbent county councilwoman Diane Anderson on November 5, 2024 – drawing 1,831 votes to Anderson’s 1,487 votes. Philson, a Democrat, won election as a petition candidate rather than challenging Anderson in the party primary, which he did unsuccessfully four years earlier.
The gist of Patterson’s claim against the Philsons is that they do not reside at a dilapidated dwelling located at 3212 Milam Road in Clinton – which is where he contends the couple are registered to vote.
Per Petterson, the parcel located at this address “has never been assessed with ANY structure on the property” – only 29.19 acres of agricultural land. Furthermore, he argued power to the address has been “disconnected since 2019 with no restoration of service.”
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Speaking of assessments, Patterson alleged in his complaint that Cassandra Philson has claimed a primary residential tax exemption of four percent on a home at 101 Meek Drive in Laurens, S.C. since 1990 – and that her husband resides with her at this address.
“I request the commission investigate the voter registrations of Mr. and Mrs. Philson and determine if they are valid,” Patterson wrote. “If they are found to have not resided at 3212 Milam Road… I request that the number of times they voted with a false voter registration be determined and published by your commission.”
The S.C. Code of Laws (§ 4-9-90) mandates that council members “must be elected by the qualified electors of the district in which they reside.” It further states a council member “will be deemed a resident of the district he represents as long as he resides in any part of the district as constituted at the time of his election.”
Was Philson a resident of the district to which he was elected on November 5, 2024?
FITSNews reached out to the Philsons to get their side of the story but did not immediately receive a reply. In the event we receive comment from them, we will be sure to update this story.
Laurens County council is scheduled to hold its first official meeting of the new year next Monday (January 13, 2025).
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UPDATE |
Judge “refuses” to swear in Philson…
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THE COMPLAINT…
(Provided)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.
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5 comments
5’7″ and 350 pounds???
Brown’s daddy rented out houses that looked like that, what’s the problem?
Brown Patterson got it stuck it up his morbidly obese arse on this one. He totally made this crap on Mr. Philson up.
I rode by Brown’s house the other day, and I could have sworn that I saw a fairly large number of county employees cleaning up his yard after the hurricane. Oh, by the way, one of the county department heads told me that some of the new councilmen told Patterson to move his weedeater and lawnmower business out of county square. Never did seem right to me.
BYE BYE, BROWN!!!!! You just got knocked off your high horse.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brown Patterson is the creepiest kid I ever taught. I remember when he wagged his privates at a little girl at Laurens Middle School. His mom was school board chairman and she threatened any district employee who dared to do the right thing. I still get creeped out just thinking about this entire family. Nothing but total creepy people all the time.
Yeah, “Creeped Out” I know what you mean. My spouse worked at LMS, and couldn’t do anything with this Patterson kid. He would run literally crying to the principal at the drop of a hat and then they would get a call from his mom. Made it quite difficult to maintain any type of discipline in the classroom. The mom would have teachers transferred that little Brownie didn’t like or than looked at him wrong. The kids all called him baby huey. He still hasnt grown up.