Election officials say all the machines used to check voter registrations in the state of South Carolina were down for a time on Tuesday morning, causing long lines for absentee voters. Initially, Greenville County Registration and Elections Director Conway Belangia told News 4’s Nigel Robertson that the voting machines in Greenville County were down. News 4 checked with other counties, and was told that the machines were down across the state. Robertson called the State Elections Office, and clarified that the machines that were down were the ones used to check voter registration and identification and to determine what ballot voters should be using, not voting machines.
State election officials said the machines had been intentionally taken offline. They said that in Charleston County, more than 30,000 people cast absentee ballots, which was the maximum set as a cap in the machines used to confirm voter registration. In order for the maximum set in the machines to be adjusted,the machines had to be taken offline.
“This is a new voter registration system they instituted in January on a state level and I don’t think they considered the volume that they are going to have this week,” Belangia said. “When this thing happens statewide, it shuts everybody down in all 46 counties and that’s what happened. We are just one of the 46 that have gotten caught in this computer glitch loop.”
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