SC Supreme Court Orders Ballots Returned

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — Tuesday afternoon the South Carolina Supreme Court ruled to have ballots and voting machines returned to Richland County officials in order to be counted. SCGOP Executive Director Matt Moore tells ABC Columbia the South Carolina Supreme court ruled in favor of the SCGOP. Also speaking out, Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian. “There are a lot of questions to be answered. But, before we ever get to those questions we need to get the votes counted. That’s why we brought the action we did and that’s why were are happy with the Supreme Court’s ruling today,” says Harpootlian. The ruling came just hours after the Democratic Party dropped their suit, filed just under a week ago, to have House District 75 ballots seized, placed into SLED custody and recounted. Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian confirmed to ABC Columbia News that after metting with county election officials and their lawyers, the Democratic Party, feels the ballots will be counted in a professional matter. This is of course what the Republicans wanted. They did not want a recount. In fact, they originally filed an injunction with the state Supreme Court to stop the recount. As we have reported, the recount did get underway last Friday, but was later stopped when the state Supreme Court stepped in. While questions concerning the lawsuit have been answered, there are still several questions without answers. Those include: Who is the clear winner of House District 75? And, will the challenge against the Penny Sales Tax Vote continue? We could have answers as soon as Friday, as that is the deadline for officials to tally the votes in order for them to be certified by the South Carolina Election Commission.