Streams of winning lottery tickets were printed in South Carolina because of a computer glitch on Christmas Day, officials said, and the potential winnings could total as much as $19.6 million if they are validated.

Customers began to notice the phenomenon at ticket vendors like the Ball Mart convenience store and gas station in the city of Liberty, about 20 miles west of Greenville, S.C.

Wade Crenshaw, 61, was working behind the cash register there when he saw that more people were coming in search of a particular game, the Holiday Cash Add-a-Play.

The rush lasted only about 30 minutes before the game was shut down, Mr. Crenshaw said in an interview on Saturday. But during that time, seven or eight people won hundreds and hundreds of dollars each. It was too much for Mr. Crenshaw to cash out.