South Carolina Lottery: S.C. lottery machines crash on drawing day
Some N.C. Buyers Left Without Tickets
Some North Carolina lottery players hoping to cash in on South Carolina's Powerball lottery walked away with nothing Wednesday after the state's lottery buying network went down.
South Carolina's network crashed around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday due to a Bellsouth issue, according to the South Carolina Educational Lottery Office.
"We had one lady from North Carolina who wanted to buy a ticket but had to leave empty-handed," convenience store clerk John Traylor said.
The network was still down around 4 p.m. and officials were not sure when it would be working again. Wednesday's drawing will be held in Ohio and go on as scheduled.
North Carolina is one of only 10 states without a lottery. Other states estimate North Carolinians spend around $200 million every year buying lottery tickets.
North Carolina was surrounded by lottery states when Tennessee started its games in January. The state has already made $64 million for schools there.
South Carolina schools have gotten $201 million over the last nine months. Virginia has brought in $304 million and Georgia has earned $589 million.
Polls show about two-thirds of North Carolina residents support a lottery. Gov. Mike Easley supports one as well, but the general assembly has voted it down several times since the mid-1980s.
In 2002, the state House rejected a plan to hold a statewide referendum on a lottery.