Rich. Co. Election Chief Apologizes for Mess

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — The woman responsible for running elections in Richland County has apologized for the long lines during this month’s election. “There were unique difficulties in Richland County because of mistakes made in my office,” says Lillian McBride, Richland County Board of Elections Director. Monday afternoon Lillian McBride testified before state lawmakers about the mess on Election Day that forced voters to stand in lines, that were for some, 5 hours long. “I’m horrified of the problems on Election Day,” says McBride McBride’s testimony followed the nearly hour-long testimony of Richland County Election Commission Chairman Liz Crum. Following testimony, the two were questioned by lawmakers. During that time, we learned Richland County has a reported 935 working voting machines, but only 628 were allegedly used on Election Day. Lawmakers also looked for answers to how the county election commission could prevent this from happening again. “What we need going forward is to have a sense of confidence,” says Rep. James Smith, D- District 72. McBride did state that the election commission staff will meet in the near future to discuss what happened, how it happened and what changes they can make to prevent it. She and Liz Crum both apologized again to voters and lawmakers. Another meeting is expected on this issue on December 6th. Elections and Voter Registration Director Lillian McBride promised the county’s legislative delegation Monday that she will get to the bottom of the problems and make sure they never happen again. Several lawmakers demanded specifics on why there weren’t enough machines, causing waits of more than five hours to vote. Each time, McBride told them she didn’t have answers and apologized again. McBride did say it appeared a worker read the wrong column on a spreadsheet. She also said the county suffered an unusual number of battery failures in its machines, which haven’t been explained. The county also struggled to count votes, certifying results a week after the rest of the state.