BY JOHN S. WEST
The election process has been in the news a lot lately. At the national level and here in South Carolina, the media have reported on a variety of election-related subjects. One of the most important and far-reaching is the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
An examination of the record reveals that most HAVA coverage by South Carolina's media has been accurate and useful in educating voters. Some reports have been inaccurate or confusing. South Carolina's voters deserve a fair and complete report on this issue.
In 2002, the U.S. Congress adopted HAVA and appropriated $3.5 billion in federal funding for division among the 50 states. South Carolina's share is $46.5 million. HAVA requires a 5 percent state match, or $2.1 million. Recognizing the excellent return on investment, the S.C. General Assembly has already funded our state's 5 percent match.
To be eligible to receive and spend federal HAVA funds, each state must prepare, adopt and implement a comprehensive formal HAVA plan. A task force of more than 50 dedicated South Carolinians produced our state's plan. These business, government and civic leaders, aided by election professionals from across South Carolina, worked for months to develop a comprehensive HAVA road map.
In September 2003, Gov. Mark Sanford certified to the Federal Election Commission that the South Carolina plan complies with the "applicable laws and requirements" of HAVA.
South Carolina's plan is substantial and well-conceived. Reforms include enhanced poll worker training, voter outreach and education, and improved access for voters with disabilities. The centerpiece of the plan is a call for a uniform statewide voting system. This system will be implemented in phases.
The first phase, and a high priority in the plan, is to replace the infamous punch card-type voting systems currently being used in 11 of South Carolina's 46 counties. These counties have endorsed the plan to implement the uniform statewide voting system. When the HAVA plan is fully implemented, South Carolina voters will have an improved, modern system of voting.
To execute the uniform voting system component of the plan, in October 2003, the State Budget and Control Board's Information Technology Management Office solicited proposals from qualified vendors to put in place a uniform statewide voting system. After a thorough evaluation process, a vendor was selected.
After the outcome of ITMO's initial solicitation process was set aside for technical deficiencies under South Carolina procurement law, proposals were solicited again. A different evaluation team reviewed the new proposals and confirmed the selection of the original successful vendor. A notice of contract award was issued by ITMO on July 19.
The advocates of South Carolina's HAVA plan overwhelmingly outnumber its detractors. The primary and often-quoted critics are unsuccessful vendors and their vocal allies. They have to date "pulled out all the stops," including threats of legal action, political pressure and attempts to use misleading media reports, to derail or, more precisely, redirect the HAVA process their way.
One of the more shameful tactics used by the vocal few has been to impugn the character and reputation of the executive director of the State Election Commission, Marci Andino. Their reckless and meritless "shoot the messenger" strategy has wronged our state's very able and highly regarded chief election official. Their actions have compromised the HAVA process and placed federal HAVA dollars at risk.
HAVA is the law of the land. Congress has declared that election reform is a worthy investment. South Carolina has complied with HAVA, and our Legislature has appropriated matching funds to implement it. We now owe it to our citizens to consider their interests first.
We have within our reach the opportunity to implement meaningful election reform. We need to finish our work without further unwarranted delay. After all, I'm certain no one needs to be reminded of how embarrassing and divisive the Florida punch card debacle was in 2000.
ON THE NET
The text of the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the S.C. HAVA State Plan, and State Plan progress status information are available at the State Election Commission Web site (http://www.state.sc.us/scsec/).
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