Thread: South Carolina primary plagued by bad voting machines, snow

South Carolina primary plagued by bad voting machines, snow

# Story Highlights
# NEW: Up to 4 inches of snow possible in warm-weather state
# Electronic voting machines fail to work in Myrtle Beach's county
# Precinct's meager supply of paper ballots runs out quickly
# Some voters annoyed by calls from campaign offices
# Next Article in Politics »

(CNN) -- Republican presidential candidates seeking a win in South Carolina's primary -- and an edge in what so far has been a wide-open race -- were hoping voters would head to the polls despite bad weather.

Rain and snow were falling in some places Saturday. CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras said as much as 4 inches of snow could fall in the western and northern parts of the state.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who was victorious earlier this month in Iowa caucuses, said the snow was "something we hoped wouldn't happen."

But, Huckabee said, "We have to take the weather for what it is. We don't get to choose it. I just hope that our voters are so committed that it doesn't affect the fact that they are going to vote, because ... it's a mission that they have to deal with today."

Malfunctioning voting machines plagued Horry County, which contains the cities of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, according to poll workers. Workers said the machines have been down since polls opened at 7 a.m., and they are not reading activation cards.

Workers were handing out paper ballots, but at least one precinct has run out -- it had only 23 on hand. Poll workers said the county has about 100 precincts, and all of them are affected.

As of 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, about 80 percent of the county's voting machines were back online, said county spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier.

However, Arizona Sen. John McCain's campaign expressed concern and called on supporters to make sure their votes are counted.

"We have received reports from Horry County that voters are being turned away from the polls, because electronic voting machines are not working and paper ballots are not available," Buzz Jacobs, state director for McCain's campaign, said in a statement. "Some voters say they are being instructed to return at a later time. We are disturbed by these reports and hope that this issue is resolved immediately. We encourage any voters who were turned away from the polls to return again to their polling place this afternoon to exercise their constitutional right to vote."

Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina Republican Party, said that he had confidence the problem was being fixed.

"We expect a full and fair count," Dawson said in a telephone interview with CNN. "In South Carolina, our citizens take the right to vote very seriously. We have full confidence in our state elections commission, which is running this primary. Any questions that have arisen are being addressed."

He noted that "there is always a backup in case there is an election machine malfunction and a ballot can't be cast."

Historically, the path to the GOP presidential nomination has gone through South Carolina, which relishes its role of being the political gateway to the South. Residents like to point out that no one since Ronald Reagan has reached the White House without a South Carolina win.

"South Carolina is the state where the Republican base passes judgment on the candidates," CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider said. "If conservatives are going to rally behind any single contender, we'll see that happen in South Carolina."

As of around 11 a.m., about 140 people had turned out to vote in the Seven Oaks precinct of Lexington County, South Carolina. Some of them, however, complained about phone calls earlier in the week from campaigns.

"It's a little much," said Kay Burns, who said she voted for Sen. John McCain of Arizona because "I like what he stands for."

Others said they voted for Huckabee.

"I like the fact he's a Christian," said voter Stacee Groome.

Kay Burns' husband, Ellus, said he voted for former Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee because of his "presentation, maturity and Reaganism." Burns said the most important issues for him are the economy and international relations. E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend

CNN's Mary Snow, Mark Preston and Lisa Goddard contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/19/ ... index.html

In Nevada ours were paper ballots

Originally Posted by jp_48504

Malfunctioning voting machines plagued Horry County, which contains the cities of Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, according to poll workers. Workers said the machines have been down since polls opened at 7 a.m., and they are not reading activation cards.

Workers were handing out paper ballots, but at least one precinct has run out -- it had only 23 on hand. Poll workers said the county has about 100 precincts, and all of them are affected.

This does not suprise me. Anyone wonder why Horry County? Could it be because that is where the biggest population of illegal aliens are working? That is who's building the grand strand!

As of 1:30 p.m. ET Saturday, about 80 percent of the county's voting machines were back online, said county spokeswoman Lisa Bourcier.

Only 80 % by 1:30 pm? Yes this will be a fair vote. I guess they needed to change the memory cards.

Hopefully, because of the snow, the people from the nursing homes were unable to vote. That will doom Mccain.

Here's the only exit poll info I've been able to find in my quick search on South Carolina. It indicates a McCain edge, but goes on to show what is possibly evidence of a Huckster advantage:

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/

HORSERACE

South Carolina Turnout: Tough on Immigration, Lots of Evangelicals?

The last round of exit polling I saw, from midafternoon, had it McCain 32 percent, Huckabee 28 percent, Romney 16 percent, and Thompson 15 percent. Earlier in the day it had McCain and Huckabee neck and neck...

But check out this description of the voters from exit polls, just out from AP:

"Preliminary figures from exit polls of voters showed that conservatives and white evangelical and born-again Christians were turning out heavily, and that Republican voters said a candidate who shares their values was most important. That all boded well for Huckabee, the one-time Southern Baptist preacher with solid social conservative credentials, and poorly for McCain, who has a rocky relationship with hard-right voters despite a right-leaning Senate voting record on issues they care most about.

Also troublesome for McCain: GOP voters ranked illegal immigration as their second-most important issue behind the economy. And, just over half said illegal immigrants should be deported. McCain has drawn fire from parts of his party for backing an eventual path to citizenship for millions of immigrants in the country illegally."

That, at least on paper, doesn't sound like an ideal turnout for McCain...

01/19 05:06 PM