Decision follows questions over tight House race
A judge ordered that the state Election Commission recount all votes cast in Richland County Thursday evening.
It was the second order Circuit Judge Casey Manning issued Thursday, The State reported, after he demanded a recount in the tight race for House District 75.
Just before the last vote counts were announced in that race Wednesday, Joe McCulloch, a Democrat, led Kirkman Finlay, a Republican, by 46 votes.
But Finlay held a strong advantage in the final set of absentee ballots, taking three-quarters of the last 621 ballots. In one grouping of votes, Finlay won 267 votes, and McCulloch earned none, The State reported.
That raised questions in the South Carolina Democratic Party, which filed a petition Thursday to stop the county from certifying the results.
The state Election Commission will hold the recount, which includes every other race in the county, today, delaying those contests’ certification.