SC Attorney General Henry McMaster is now studying the state's plan to buy new computer voting machines, and will issue an opinion on whether those machines break the federal Help America Vote Act. State Rep. Joe Neal, D-Columbia, requested the opinion and also asked that the attorney general block the state's purchase of the machines. McMaster has not made a decision on that request.

Rep. Neal's complaint, along with numerous citizens groups like Common Cause and the SC Progressive Network, is that that new computer voting machines don't issue a paper printout or receipt at the time someone votes. The computerized voting machines would all be connected and would transmit their results over phone lines.

Rep. Neal says, "This is a system that will be open to fraud and abuse, particularly since we're talking about results from votes being transmitted by modem across the state. The system is open or will be open to hacking."

He says the Help America Vote Act, or HAVA, requires that, "the voting system shall produce a permanent paper record with a manual audit capacity." The state's request for bids for new machines does not require paper printouts, so the three companies that submitted bids don't include that function.

Sally Webb was at the Richland County Voter Registration office Tuesday afternoon to change her address, to make sure her vote counts in November. She wasn't aware of the new machines, but doesn't like the idea that a computer glitch could mean her vote wouldn't count.

"If that happens, I think the same thing will take place that took place in Florida in 2000, so that's why they need the receipt," she says.

Groups across the nation were raising similar concerns about voting machines in their communities. It was "The Computer Ate My Vote" Action Day across the nation.

But the issue isn't clear-cut. Some argue that the new machines do meet the HAVA law, because they produce a paper printout after a polling machine is closed. They argue that fulfills the law, and a receipt for each voter at the time of voting is not required.

Marci Andino, State Election Commission director, also points out that the voting machines many SC counties have been using for years also don't give a paper receipt for each voter, and that lack of paper receipts hasn't caused any problems.

There's also concern that giving voters a paper receipt could lead to vote-buying. If someone were approached about selling their vote, a receipt would give them proof of how they voted so they could collect their money.

There's no timetable for when the attorney general will issue his opinion on whether the new machines meet the HAVA requirements.