AIKEN, S.C. — Aiken County election workers start a recount Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the U.S. House District 2 race, where Republican Congressman Joe Wilson holds a lead of 2,926 votes over Democratic challenger Zyon Khalifa, an Aiken native.
That margin is under 1% of all votes cast in the Nov. 3 election, which makes a recount mandatory under state rules. County officials said Monday they expect the South Carolina State Election Commission to order the statewide recount and are moving ahead with the local count.
Khalifa has 144,865 votes in the current tally. Wilson has held the 2nd District seat since 2001, and his son, Attorney General Alan Wilson, is the state governor-elect.
The count opens at 10 a.m. at 1930 University Parkway, where the county elections office occupies Suite 1200 inside the government center. The county plans to certify its recount results at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 11, in the Sandlapper Room of the same building.
Leaders of both county parties weighed in ahead of the count. Republican chair Debbie Epling said she expects Wilson to win and said the party needs to do more to reach younger voters, who turned out in larger numbers this year. Democratic chair Rashad Frazier-Gaines noted that Khalifa raised less than a tenth of the money Wilson had and still came within a point.
Both chairs said they hope voters trust the election process and accept the final result.
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