COLUMBIA, S.C. - A multimillion-dollar statewide voter machine contract has been suspended after three companies filed official protests of the bidding process.

Officials with the state Budget and Control Board said they would freeze the process until questions are resolved.

The $32.4 million contract awarded this month by the state Election Commission to Election Systems & Software was scheduled to become official Wednesday.

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.

Nebraska-based ES&S, which provides more than 74,000 voting systems worldwide, beat out seven companies for the contract.

On Tuesday, Maximus of Virginia and Diebold Election Systems of Ohio filed complaints against the commission. They alleged several violations, most of them dealing with the commission's decision-making process.

The 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 employment at 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 takes too long, the state could lose more than $2 million in federal money earmarked for updating South Carolina's electronic voting process. If it goes beyond midsummer, Andino said there won't be enough time to install and test equipment for November elections.

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Information from: The Post and Courier, http://www.charleston.net/