BATESBURG-LEESVILLE, S.C. — Voters in Batesburg-Leesville decided how many council members they want in their town Tuesday.
The consideration was to remain at eight seats or reduce to six.
The town's administrator says residents were notified by the Lexington county elections office about the referendum.
Polls were open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesday.
"When the two towns, Batesburg and Leesville consolidated in 1993, Batesburg had a four member council with a mayor, Leesville had a four member council with a mayor and nobody really wanted to give their seats up," Ted Luckadoo, Batesburg-Leesville town manager said.
Luckadoo says that it remained this way until the next election cycle when one mayor was decided on and since 1993, they've continued with these eight seats.
Lexington county's elections office said on Tuesday, an overwhelming majority voted to retain the eight council seats - 243 voters, whereas 65 voted to reduce to six seats.
Although the number of council seats is staying the same, Luckadoo adds, "This is something we would need to know prior to redrawing any lines or looking at the redistricting process."
It's a process Batesburg-Leesville was planning to pursue regardless of the referendum outcome.
Luckadoo said redistricting hasn't happened in the town since 1993, as well, but they plan to start at the next council meeting on June 13th.
"We're going to work with the office of revenue and fiscal affairs. Their office does redistricting. We're going to work to get a map and the data and everything as soon as possible and we will certainly have public input on that," Luckadoo said.
According to the Lexington county elections office, these are unofficial results. Official results are expected to be issued Thursday after the board reviews them.