ST. GEORGE, S.C. - South Carolina's Democratic Party chairman says state Rep. George Bailey has lied "repeatedly and shamelessly" to voters in his district about his status as a Marine veteran.

Bailey has said he served in the 53rd Special Infantry Reserve at the Charleston Naval Shipyard 50 years ago while he was in high school. The biography that appeared for years in the state Legislative Manual listed his military experience as "Marine veteran."

Democrats said the high school program doesn't match the Marine Corps Reserve claim that Bailey continues to list in his campaign literature. They cite federal law that requires a Marine reservist to be 18 or older and have previous armed forces service.

After "being caught in a lie, George Bailey continues to deceive the voters of his district," Joe Erwin, the Democrats' state chairman, said. Bailey "never served one day in either the Marines or the Marine Reserves. The voters deserve a legislator who doesn't lie to them repeatedly and shamelessly."

Questions arose this summer about Bailey's military background after he surprised Democrats with a last-minute switch to the Republican Party. Democrats charged he was trying to sew up the November election by denying them a chance to get a candidate on the ballot. Bailey has insisted that he told the party of his intentions.

But Bailey said his involvement with the Special Infantry Reserve obligated him to the service if his unit was activated.

"We did weekend drills and I stand by that. That's what I did. ... Like a lot of other kids, I was looking for excitement and some extra money," Bailey said. "This is just crazy."

Bailey's mention of military service differs from most other legislators with active duty experience, who list service dates, military campaigns and ranks. Bailey's biography had none of those details.

The military service wasn't the only problem with Bailey's official biography. Old entries in the state Legislative Manual said Bailey was a Washington & Lee University graduate. He's a graduate of Lee Institute School of Real Estate. That reference was corrected in the 1999 Legislative Manual.

Democrats, he said, knew all about his resume when he was a member of their party. "I corrected my resume four years ago," Bailey said. "All the years I was one of them, they knew ... for years and years."