Challenged Ballots Didn't Affect Sen. 41 Race

Republican Walter Hundley's narrow lead over Democrat Paul Tinkler in the S.C. Senate District 41 race still stands after the Charleston County Board of Canvassers counted the 21 challenged ballots cast on Tuesday.

On election night Hundley led Tinkler by 14 votes, and one voter cast a write-in ballot for Hundley on election day as well, bringing his vote total prior to decisions on the challenged ballots to 3,113, 15 votes more than Tinkler's 3,098 vote total. With only 15 votes separating the two candidates the determination on the challenged ballots could have changed the outcome.

However the Board of Canvassers decided to allow only 13 of the 21 challenged ballots to be counted. Of those seven were cast for Tinkler and six were cast for Hundley, leaving the unofficial results at 3,119 for Hundley, and 3,105 for Tinkler. Green Party Candidate Sue Edward's vote total remained unchanged at 53.

The South Carolina Election Commission is set to order a recount in the close election at 3 p.m. today, which the Charleston County Board of Elections and Voter Registration will perform at 5 p.m. before certifying the official results.