A hearing has been scheduled by the State Democratic Party to hear the election protest filed by former candidate Kamau Marcharia, who lost his bid for the S.C. District 41 House of Representatives seat in the June 22 runoff election.

State Democratic Party Communications Director Keiana Page announced that the quasi-judicial hearing will be held on Thursday, July 1 at 4:30 p.m. in room 135 of the USC College of Law, which is located at 701 Main Street in Columbia.

The protest will be heard by the Democratic Party Executive Committee, which consists of two representatives from each county in the state.

“Both candidates in the District 41 race can bring representatives and lawyers to debate if the election results should be upheld or not,” Page said.

Fairfield County Voter Registration and Election Director Debby Stidham has not been called to be a part of the hearing.

It would be up to the candidate requesting the hearing to ask her to testify, according to Page.

After losing the District 41 State House of Representatives runoff election to incumbent Boyd Brown, Kamau Marcharia announced that he would file a formal protest with the state’s Democratic Party.

Marcharia, a Fairfield County Council Member, and E. Sutton, his campaign manager, have claimed that the election results are fraudulent.

The Democratic Party Executive Committee is required to make a ruling on the protest at the Thursday evening meeting.