Elections contract awarded

Nebraska firm wins again amid S.C. bid controversy

BY CLAY BARBOUR
Of The Post and Courier Staff

COLUMBIAThe state's chief procurement officer quietly awarded a Nebraska company a $37.7 million contract Monday to fit South Carolina with a statewide electronic voting system.

The move comes less than a week after the State Law Enforcement Division announced an official investigation into possible improprieties at the S.C. Election Commission, involving the same bid process.

This was the second time that Election Systems & Software Inc. won the contract, having beat out seven companies for what was originally a $32.4 million deal. That award was suspended after the procurement officer found technical problems with the bid, including that it did not commit to a fixed price on all of the work.

No one with the procurement office or the commission could be reached for comment late Monday. The award, which has yet to be announced, was made official at 5 p.m.

Scott Borchardt, president of Palmetto UniLect of Columbia, one of the companies passed over twice in the process, was not surprised by the news.

"We have known that this was a decision made more than a year ago," he said. "They were going to make sure that ES&S won this, one way or another."

Borchardt has fought for months over the contract; consistently saying the process was fixed. Following Monday's decision, he said his battle is pretty much over.

"Even if we took them to court now, there is not enough time for it to do any good," he said. "A judge could rule for us, but it would be too late. They would have already spent that money."

In 2002, President George Bush signed the Help America Vote Act into law, allocating $3.9 billion to states and requiring they implement and maintain an interactive, centralized and uniform statewide computerized voter registration list by 2004. South Carolina is to receive $48 million in HAVA money.

The commission has faced criticism and accusations since the original contract was awarded in April to ES&S, an Omaha, Neb., company that has come under fire for problems with its machines in Indiana and Louisiana and for somewhat questionable ethical practices in Arkansas and Florida.

Last week, two state legislators asked for an official investigation into claims that improprieties took place within the commission, taking aim directly at commission Director Marci Andino.

For 2-1/2 years, Andino worked for Unisys, a company specializing in computer system integrations and server technology. In 2002, ES&S and Unisys teamed up in a failed bid for Georgia's statewide voting system. The two companies later formed an alliance to provide statewide voter registration systems nationwide.

Andino, in between stints at the Election Commission, worked for Unisys during its partnership with ES&S in Georgia.

Andino denies a conflict of interest has taken place in her office. She said Unisys is not a part of the current deal and will play no part in the installation or running of the state's voting system. She also said she did not play a role in influencing the committee that ultimately ed ES&S.

She said that while Palmetto Unilect had the lowest bid, the company did not secure its bid with a bond. That meant Palmetto Unilect's proposal was not considered, she said.