McMaster approves new voting system

Critics still say machines have no mechanism that allows voters to check accuracy of their ballots.

BY CLAY BARBOUR
Of The Post and Courier Staff

COLUMBIAA day after the multi-million dollar contract for voting machines became official, S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster gave his approval to the controversial computerized system meant to overhaul South Carolina elections.

Following a long and contentious process, the state officially awarded Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software the contract Wed-nesday to install a touch-screen voting system statewide by 2005.

The announcement followed months of criticism from voter advocates over the system's lack of a printout that voters could use to verify a ballot's accuracy.

On Thursday, McMaster issued an official opinion, saying the ES&S system met all requirements listed under the Help America Vote Act, the federal law that mandates states have centralized, uniform voting systems by 2006.

McMaster agreed that HAVA requires such systems to produce a permanent paper record with a manual audit capacity. This, he said, allows election officials to check vote totals when needed. However, McMaster said the act does not require that such paper trails be seen and verified by voters after they are produced.

This was pleasing news to South Carolina Election Commission Director Marci Andino, who had made the same argument all along. Andino said other states, such as California, have unsuccessfully attempted voter verifiable printouts.

"They are just too long," she said. "We have one in the office from Maryland. I think it's about 10 feet long. And when they tried it in California, the voters didn't even stay around to look at their ballots.

McMaster met Tuesday with election officials for a demonstration of the machine and was satisfied with its performance. Andino said she hopes this will end the ongoing controversy.Problems with computerized systems nationwide have sparked a fear of another election debacle, a la Florida 2000. Nearly every company making the systems, including ES&S, has had instances in the past four year of losing votes during an election.

Federal lawmakers have requested investigations into safeguards and the need for printouts, and at least 20 states have introduced legislation requiring them.

Brett Bursey, director of the S.C. Progressive Network and one of the state's loudest advocates for a voter printout, was not happy with Thursday's news.

"Our old election machines were losing a lot of votes," he said. "These new machines will just offer us a new way to lose votes."

Bursey said there is little advocates can do now.

The state's upgrade to the new system is scheduled to take place in two phases. The first phase, which will be finished by Election Day 2004, will consist of nine counties with punch card systems, three counties with poor-performing optical scans and two counties, Greenwood and Spartanburg, with older electronic systems. The following year, any county that wants the new system can get it.

HAVA came with a federal grant to pay for the voting systems; South Carolina got $48 million.

Sumter County qualified for inclusion in the first phase, but opted out. County election officials feared there was too little time between now and Election Day to prepare poll workers for the new system. They are expected to be a part of the second phase.

"At this point, our goal is to get as many people as we can to vote, then hope for the best," Bursey said.