New voting machines on the way

But delay-plagued process has some officials skeptical they'll be here on time

HEATHER VOGELL

York and 13 other counties should have new electronic voting machines in hand by mid-August, officials said this week.

But the touch-screen machines still aren't clear of the controversy that has surrounded them for months. York County Elections Director Wanda Hemphill said Tuesday that she won't count on the machines until she knows they are headed for York.

"It's just been so off-and-on, off-and-on, it's hard to even get excited for it," she said.

She and other election officials are worried that if delays persist, they might not have enough time to teach poll workers and the public how to use the new gear before the Nov. 2 presidential election.

The machines should have arrived in the counties before June, allowing local officials to give them a trial run during the party primaries, Hemphill said.

But it wasn't to be.

In 2003, a statewide committee hoping to secure federal dollars issued a plan to buy new voting equipment for any of the state's 46 counties that wanted it.

York County had been testing electronic systems to replace its punch cards, which fell out of favor after the ballot snafus in Florida during the 2000 presidential race. The county held off on the purchase when the state took over the purchasing process, Hemphill said. Now the bidding process for the contract is facing questions, and frustrated local election officials fear the state won't get them the machines in time to make a smooth transition to a new system.

"We're very fortunate in the sense that we're going to get replacement equipment without it coming out of the county budget," Hemphill said. "We maybe could have already had this done had we handled it on the local level."

On Monday, election officials announced that Election Systems and Software won the nearly $38 million contract to provide S.C. counties new machines over the next seven years.

Eleven counties that use punch cards, including York, and three others with failing equipment, are supposed to receive the first electronic machines this year. If they don't, the state will lose $2.2 million in federal money.

Before November, the electrical system will have to be checked at each polling station. In York, close to 600 poll workers who may not all be comfortable with computers will need training.

And the public will need to be introduced to the machines.

Marci Andino, executive director of the S.C. Election Commission, said the state is planning a public education campaign to help counties. It could include demonstrations at garden clubs or other public gatherings.

But other hurdles could slow the process.

Election Systems and Software won the first round of bidding several months ago. But objections followed the decision because the company hadn't provided complete information in its proposal. The project was rebid.

Questions also arose about Andino's work for a company that had a partnership with Election Systems and Software in Georgia. Andino said there was no conflict because her former employer did not bid in South Carolina.

This week's bid award announcement may not be the end of the issue, since competitors have 16 days to protest the decision. If there is no protest, the machines will be sent out as soon as that period ends, Andino said.

Also last week, a state representative asked Attorney General Henry McMaster to look into whether the machines are proper for voting because they don't produce paper receipts for voters.

Spokesman Mark Plowden said Tuesday that there's no timeline for McMaster to issue an opinion.

"You can't put legal research on a schedule," he said.