3 companies protest contract bid process
BY CLAY BARBOUR
Of The Post and Courier Staff
COLUMBIA--The state's chief procurement officer suspended a multimillion-dollar statewide voter machine contract Wednesday after three companies filed official protests, alleging problems with the bid.
Officials with the State Budget and Control Board called the suspension routine and said they would freeze the process until questions are resolved.
The suspension came on the same day Senate President Pro Tem Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, and Sen. Jake Knotts, R-West Columbia, drafted a letter asking the Legislative Audit Council to investigate the matter.
If the process takes too long, the state could lose more than $2 million in federal money earmarked for updating South Carolina's electronic voting process.
Earlier this month, the state Election Commission announced its intent to award a $32.4 million contract to Election Systems & Software, a Nebraska-based company with more than 74,000 voting systems worldwide.
ES&S beat out seven companies for the contract, which was scheduled to become official Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Maximus, a Virginia-based company, and Diebold Election Systems of Ohio filed complaints against the commission. They alleged several violations in the selection of ES&S, most of them dealing with the commission's decision-making process.
Those protests come days after South Carolina-based Palmetto Unilect filed a complaint alleging four violations by the commission, including a potential conflict of interest between commission Director Marci Andino and ES&S.
That accusation centers on Andino's previous involvement with Unisys, a company specializing in computer system integrations and server technology.
In 2002, ES&S and Unisys teamed up to bid for Georgia's statewide voting system. The companies later formed an alliance to provide statewide voter registration systems nationwide. Andino worked for Unisys during its partnership with ES&S in Georgia. Andino has denied a conflict because Unisys isn't involved in the South Carolina deal. She also denied influencing the selection committee.
The state's chief procurement officer will hold a hearing on the matter and make a decision. If the companies are not satisfied with the outcome, they can appeal to the procurement review panel. If the panel rules against them, they can take their grievances to court.
If the process lingers past mid-summer, Andino said, there won't be enough time to install and test equipment for November elections.
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