UPDATED: Turner-Swann Recount Set for Friday

UPDATED 3:48 p.m. Thursday

Conway Belangia, head of elections for Greenville County, has confirmed that the State Election commission will hold an official recount for the right to represent the Republican Party in Senate District 8. 

Ross Turner leads fellow Greenville businessman Joe Swann by 36 votes which is .4 percent or inside the number that necessitates an automatic recount.

The recount will take place at 4:45 p.m. in election offices at County Square in Greenville. It is open to the public. 

UPDATED 9:48 P.M. Tuesday

The run-off race for the GOP nomination to represent Senate District 8 appears headed to a recount.

With all 38 precincts in and approximately 5,537 votes cast, Ross Turner and Joe Swann are separated by 36 votes or .6 percent of the total. 

On Thursday the election will be certified. If the margin between Turner and Swann is less than one percent, a recount is automatic according to Greenville County head of elections, Conway Belangia. Belangia said there are still five provisional votes that need to be counted.

The State Election Commission would then announce a time a place for the recount, which would take approximately 30-40 minutes, according to Belangia.

“I think both candidates want a recount done ASAP and we’re willing to do that," Belangia said.

If after the recount the losing candidate is still not satisfied with the results, he would then have to file a protest with the State Election Commission and provide cause as to why the election should be nullified. 

In the primary on June 12, Swann was the top finisher, with Turner 70 votes behind. After the primary, Swann ,, but it appears not to have been enough.

Turner also --$100,000 of which was via a bank loan--while Turner raised nearly $100,000. 

In the end, Turner believed it was his organization that made the difference. "Don't get me wrong, I would have liked to have all those endorsments," he said above boisterous crowd at his home, celebrating the results. "But I had a lot of endorsements behind the scenes. That's what matters. And I don't think people like being told who to vote for."

With Tuesday's result and the pending certification, Turner is now poised to take on Democrat Jeff Dishner for the right to replace David Thomas, the seven-term Senator who was defeated in the Republican primary on June 12.

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