The state Democratic Party has canceled today’s scheduled primary runoff for Sen. Maggie Glover’s seat after learning of possible voting irregularities during the June 8 primary.

Democratic Party chairman Joe Erwin said he would forward information his party gathered last week to the State Law Enforcement Division for further investigation.

The Democratic Party’s executive committee last week threw out the June 8 primary election results following a lengthy protest hearing in Columbia. The hearing ended after 1 a.m. Friday.

Questions raised by third-place finisher Tim Norwood focused on whether a campaign worker helped residents of a nursing home cast ballots. Erwin said there were other allegations, but the nursing home question was among the most notable.

Second-place finisher Kent Williams was to have faced Glover in a runoff today.

Norwood challenged the election after finishing seven votes behind Williams, according to the state Election Commission. By finishing third, Norwood was not to have been included in the runoff.

“The net effect of this is that all three people will be back in the race,” Erwin said.

Erwin said he would not contact SLED until he received transcripts of last week’s Democratic Party hearing. A SLED spokesman said late Monday afternoon that his office had received nothing from the party to investigate.

Gov. Mark Sanford’s office was still trying Monday to determine if he must set a date for a new primary, as the Democratic Party says the governor is required to by law.

Norwood declined to discuss specific allegations Monday, but said he was compelled to protest the election.

“We need to clean this up,” Norwood said. “If it’s wrong, we need to fix it. We don’t need to have this kind of manipulation of the electoral process.”

Neither Williams nor his attorney could be reached Monday for comment.

Glover’s attorney, Glenn Gray, questioned whether Norwood had filed his protest soon enough for it to count. Gray declined to discuss allegations in the case, but said “at this point, we’re weighing our legal options.”

Glover is one of only two women in the state Senate, and the only black woman in the upper chamber.

Senate District 30 covers parts of the Pee Dee, a mostly rural farming region in eastern South Carolina. Her district includes parts of Florence County, Marion and Dillon counties.

Reach Fretwell at (803) 771-8537 or sfretwell@thestate.com