WMBFNews.com | Myrtle Beach/Florence, SC | News, Weather, SportsOfficials: 257 votes left uncounted in MB election results

Officials: 257 votes left uncounted in MB election results

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Officials in Myrtle Beach say questions received regarding unofficial vote totals from Tuesday's run-off election has led to a brief investigation by the Horry County Election Commission.

Mark Kruea, spokesman for the city, says the controversy surrounded totals from the Dunes 1 precinct at Fire Station No. 5 on 79th Avenue North. Voting machine printouts analyzed by Sandy Martin, director of the Horry County Voter Registration and Elections Office, revealed totals from one of three machines did not print when results were collected.

"When the clerk closed the precinct, she closed it with two separate personal electronic ballots, and she only printed the one," Martin explained.

Due to the mistake, totals from the single machine were not included in Tuesday night's unofficial election results in Myrtle Beach's run-off for mayor and two city council seats.

Votes uncounted in Tuesday's preliminary results will be tallied and presented to commissioners at 10 a.m. Thursday at the Myrtle Beach City Hall. The votes, at that time, will then be counted and certified as official results.

Kruea says the number of voters who signed in at the Dunes 1 precinct and uncounted ballots totals 257. The exact numbers are expected to be presented Thursday.

Incumbent Chuck Martino, who lost his re-election race for Myrtle Beach City Council, says he will be present for the vote presentation Thursday. At that time, Martino says he will decide whether he will file a challenge based on how the results are handled.

"Even if I have 80 percent of all the outstanding votes that come in, it's not enough to make a difference," Martino confessed.

Mike Lowder and Randal Wallace beat out Martino for the two remaining seats up for election on the Myrtle Beach City Council. Wallace received the majority of the vote with 3,330, while Lowder and Martino trailed with 2,713 and 2,412 votes, respectively.

Lowder says he also plans to be present for the vote certification Thursday morning.

Incumbent Mayor John Rhodes also beat out former mayor Mark McBride in the Myrtle Beach mayor race by 492 votes.

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