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Ballot anomalies found in S.C. primary
COLUMBIA, S.C., (UPI) -- Election data analysts have found curious voting patterns in Tuesday's U.S. Senate primary in South Carolina, the campaign manager for a losing candidate said.
Alvin Greene, 32, an unemployed military veteran and political unknown, easily won the Democratic primary, defeating the better known and better funded veteran state legislator, Vic Rawl by 59 percent to 41 percent.
State Democratic Chairwoman Carol Fowler asked Greene to leave the race Wednesday, the party said in a message posted on its Web site, citing media reports Greene was recently charged with "disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity" by showing obscene photos to a University of South Carolina student.
Walter Ludwig, Rawl's campaign manager, told Politico the campaign has put together a team of experts in election data analysis to study the returns, and the search has turned up some potential red flags. For example, Greene outpolled Rawl in votes cast at polls Election Day but Rawl did "significantly better on absentees," Ludwig said, noting that the same disparity did not occur in any other South Carolina races Tuesday.
The analysis has also determined that Greene received more votes than were actually cast in Spartanburg County and votes seems to be missing from the final count in 25 precincts, Ludwig said.
"This may add up to nothing," he said. "This all could be a clerical error. We don't know, but (we) thought it was worth looking into."
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said this week he suspected phony candidates may have been planted in at least three South Carolina races.
In media interviews Thursday, Greene insisted he was a Democrat and intended to remain in the race.
COLUMBIA, S.C., (UPI) -- Election data analysts have found curious voting patterns in Tuesday's U.S. Senate primary in South Carolina, the campaign manager for a losing candidate said.
Alvin Greene, 32, an unemployed military veteran and political unknown, easily won the Democratic primary, defeating the better known and better funded veteran state legislator, Vic Rawl by 59 percent to 41 percent.
State Democratic Chairwoman Carol Fowler asked Greene to leave the race Wednesday, the party said in a message posted on its Web site, citing media reports Greene was recently charged with "disseminating, procuring or promoting obscenity" by showing obscene photos to a University of South Carolina student.
Walter Ludwig, Rawl's campaign manager, told Politico the campaign has put together a team of experts in election data analysis to study the returns, and the search has turned up some potential red flags. For example, Greene outpolled Rawl in votes cast at polls Election Day but Rawl did "significantly better on absentees," Ludwig said, noting that the same disparity did not occur in any other South Carolina races Tuesday.
The analysis has also determined that Greene received more votes than were actually cast in Spartanburg County and votes seems to be missing from the final count in 25 precincts, Ludwig said.
"This may add up to nothing," he said. "This all could be a clerical error. We don't know, but (we) thought it was worth looking into."
Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., said this week he suspected phony candidates may have been planted in at least three South Carolina races.
In media interviews Thursday, Greene insisted he was a Democrat and intended to remain in the race.
