County Encounters Voting Machine Issues

Updated 9 a.m. Nov. 7 to add new information.

Votes weren't counted until nearly 2 a.m. the morning after the election in Dorchester County due to problems with voting machines that lead the county's Board of Elections and Voter Registration Director Joshua Dickard to be on the phone for hours with vendor Election Systems & Software.

A cartridge reading problem was at the root of the issue, according to at least one campaign in the county, but the information could not be confirmed by Patch.

The school board and the S.C. House District 97 races remain too close to call until as the county's Board of Elections and Voter Registration tried to resolve the issue. 

By 9 a.m. Wednesday, 61 of the 62 precincts within Dorchester County School District Two and 73 of 74 precincts in the entire county were reported. Precinct not reported is Delemars.

With not all precincts reporting, here are those in the lead in contested races:

• Incumbent GOP Councilman Bill Hearn is trouncing petition candidate Miriam Birdsong for District 6 with 13 of 13 precincts reporting. The numbers are 76 percent to 24 percent.
• Incumbent Democrat Rep. Patsy Knight leads GOP rival Ed Carter for S.C. House District 97 race with 20 of 21 precincts reporting. The numbers are 53 percent to 47 percent. Carter won Colleton County precincts, but the added totals still put him at a deficit. 
• Sam Clark, Barbara Crosby and Lisa Tupper appear to have the most votes out of seven candidates vying for three spots on the school board with 61 of 62 precincts reporting. 

Click here to see our live results from Dorchester County races.