The South Carolina Election Commission was urged Wednesday to pick a new electronic voting system that produces a voter-verifiable paper receipt.

Anything less would be a violation of federal law, the S.C. Progressive Network maintained in testimony at a commission hearing.

The network is a statewide coalition of 54 organizations that promote a variety of progressive interests and citizen participation in government.

The Election Commission soon will spend $36 million to buy new voting machines for the state. Six companies have submitted bids.

“We have a problem,” said Progressive Network director Brett Bursey. “South Carolina is getting ready to violate federal law.”

He argues that the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002 requires a paper record that is seen, verified and turned in by the voter.

Marci Andino, the commission executive director, disagrees. She said the law requires that the system have a review capability that allows voters to go back into the ballot to see how they’ve voted and to make changes.

She produced a congressional letter supporting that position.

Bursey didn’t back down from his stance favoring a paper trail.

In its negotiations with the various companies, the five-member commission must require a vendor to produce a paper trail, he said, even if it might add to the purchase cost.

The state needs to buy a system that “requires a level of trust that most people don’t place in computers.”

Legislation is pending in the General Assembly that would require a unified electronic system. State Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland, one of the sponsors, has agreed to amend it to include a provision that the machines be able to produce paper receipts.

“It is wise to anticipate future challenges to elections that will require a paper trail to resolve,” Neal said.

In testimony before the commission, John Crangle, chairman of S.C. Common Cause, endorsed a voting system that incorporates a paper trail.

He said his organization is “concerned about the accuracy or the legitimacy of the voting process, and it seems to me that a fair amount of paper trail would be corroborating evidence that would help ensure confidence in the election system.”

Without a paper receipt, Bursey contends, there is no method to ensure that every vote is counted correctly.

“We have been urging the Election Commission for over a year not to buy machines that don’t produce voter-verifiable receipts,” he said.

Bursey said it made sense to negotiate a deal with a vendor to include a paper receipt now and to get the company to throw in the cost.

Diebold, one of the vendors bidding on South Carolina’s machines, sold Maryland a system last year. When the state decided it wanted to add a paper trail capability, an internal company memo surfaced suggesting the vendor charge the state “out the yin’ for printouts.”

The commission is expected to award a contract soon. The system will have to be phased in over a period of months.

The first machines will replace punch cards in the 10 counties that have them: Lexington, Kershaw, Aiken, Anderson, Cherokee, Florence, Greenville, Oconee, Sumter and York.

Bursey indicated the Network will file a federal suit to block the S.C. purchase if a voter-verifiable paper receipt feature is not included.

Reach Bandy at (803) 771-8648 or lbandy@thestate.com.