Senator McELVEEN proposed the following amendment (ZW\5288C001.AR.ZW22):

Amend the bill, as and if amended, SECTION 1, Pages 3-4, by striking subsection 2(A)(3) and inserting:

/ (3) The members of the Sumter School District Board of Trustees must be elected for four-year terms and until their successors are elected and qualify, except that of the nine board members elected in the 2022 school district elections, the five members who receive the five highest vote totals shall serve full four-year terms and until their successors are elected in the 2026 school district elections and qualify, and the four members who receive the four lowest vote totals shall serve initial two-year terms to expire in November 2024, when their successors elected at the 2024 school district elections qualify and take office for full four-year terms. In the event of a vacancy on the Sumter School District Board of Trustees occurring for a reason other than expiration of a term, the board shall call a special election to fill the unexpired term, so long as the vacancy does not occur within one hundred eighty days of a general election at which school district elections are to be conducted. In this case, the vacancy must be filled for the unexpired term through appointment by the Governor. /

Amend the bill further, as and if amended, SECTION 1, pages 4-5, by striking subsection 2(A)(5) and inserting:

/ (5) The Sumter County Board of Voter Registration and Elections shall conduct and supervise the elections for members of the Sumter School District Board of Trustees in the manner governed by the election laws of this State, mutatis mutandis. The county elections board shall prepare the necessary ballots, appoint managers for the voting precincts, and do all things necessary to carry out the elections, including the counting of ballots and declaring the results. The county elections board shall publish notices of the elections pursuant to Section 7-13-35. The results of the school district elections must be determined by the nonpartisan election and runoff election method pursuant to Section 5-15-62. In order to ensure the continuity of experience on the Sumter School District Board of Trustees following the 2022 school district elections, the nine board members elected in the 2022 school district elections shall take office after December 31, 2022; however, beginning with the 2024 school district elections, the members of the Sumter School District Board of Trustees shall take office one week following certification of their election pursuant to Section 59-19-315. /