Voting machine affirmation

Editorial in Charleston Post and Courier  07 August 2004

State Attorney General Henry McMaster and his staff have done a commendable job of researching the disruptive fuss over the state's new voting machines, including allegations that they don't meet the new federal law passed after the Florida election debacle. The attorney general has found those allegations without merit in a persuasive opinion issued Thursday that should put the matter to rest and allow the installation of electronic machines before the November general election.

The opinion was in response to questions raised by Rep. Joseph H. Neal of Richland County, who questioned whether the federal Help America Vote Act requires what amounts to a voter receipt, which could be seen by the voter after he casts his ballot. That question has been raised not only in South Carolina but in a number of other states after an effort to require such a receipt failed in Congress.

Indeed, the fact that such a provision was rejected was the basis of the attorney general's conclusion that the act's language doesn't imply that a receipt is required. The new electronic voting machines that were approved this week by the State Election Commission do contain the kind of paper trail the federal law requires in the event of a recount, according to the McMaster opinion.

The federal law, the opinion found, only requires that a voter be able to verify his vote before a permanent paper record is made. The advocates of an actual receipt want the voter to be able to see the paper after it is produced. There apparently are mixed views among those advocates on whether the voter should be able to take the receipt with him or leave it behind with voting officials.

The opinion, however, voiced the legal fears that others have raised about the so-called receipt, including possible voter fraud and intimidation, the possible compromise of the constitutional right to a secret ballot, not to mention the long delays and additional cost.

According to our report, Mr. McMaster was given a demonstration of the State Election Commission-approved electronic machines and was satisfied they meet the requirements of the federal law.

That law provides the states with money to replace outmoded devices, including incentives to remove the Florida-style punch-card systems by November. Most of South Carolina's non-electronic machines will be replaced by then. Nearly $50 million worth of new machines should be in place in all the counties by 2006.

Even though state election officials say a California experiment with the voter receipt was a failure, there is a movement in a number of states to add that requirement. Rep. Neal, in fact, is expected to introduce such a bill in January. That's a fight for another day.

Even one of the voter receipt advocates, Brett Bursey of the S.C. Progressive Network, conceded that in view of the opinion, the matter should be set aside until after November. He said he'll concentrate instead on voter turnout. That's good news. The last thing voters need between now and November is unwarranted confusion.