COLUMBIA, S.C. (WACH / AP) -- The woman responsible for running elections in Richland County has apologized for the long lines during this month's election.
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.
Elizabeth Crum, the chair of the Richland County Elections and Voter Registration Board of Commissioners, also apologized for problems at the polls and attempted to explain ballot scanning problems in the county to the legislative delegation.
Michael Letts, a Republican who lost his bid to unseat a Richland County councilman, has filed an Election Protest on behalf of himself and the Citizens Committee for New Elections in Richland County. Letts has been calling for a new election in the county for weeks, saying county officials intentionally used too few voting machines on Election Day.
The county also struggled to count votes, certifying results a week after the rest of the state.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forWACH