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Article published: Mar 4, 2005
County, state still at odds on machines

The stalemate between Sumter County Council and the State Election Commission continues, with both sides saying it's up to the other to make the next move.

And the loophole that would allow Sumter to continue to use punch cards — with a voter education program and special machines for the blind and disabled to use — might be closing.

Democratic lawmakers in Washington introduced two bills in January and February that would delete the allowance for a voter education program in lieu of machines that notify voters when they've over-voted.

An over-vote is when someone votes for two or more people for the same office. In that case, none of the votes are counted.

Electronic voting machines alert voters when they over-vote. The current law allows counties to use punch cards, but only if election commissions establish voter education programs telling people what happens when they over-vote and letting them know they can request a new ballot if they make a mistake while voting.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 also requires that blind and disabled voters be able to vote privately and independently, which in practice would mean each precinct would probably need at least one electronic voting machine for the disabled to use.

Marci Andino, the director of the State Election Commission, said she doesn't believe the punch-card machines can be modified to meet the updated requirements.

The new federal bills would also require voter-verifiable receipts of their votes, something state Sen. Phil Leventis, D-Sumter, pushed for during a legislative delegation meeting in August.

Right now, the election commission and county council are at odds over the $169,000 bill for the electronic voting machines set aside for Sumter.

Andino said the vendor hasn't been paid for Sumter's machines yet and won't be paid until they're delivered to Sumter County.

Council chairman Louis Fleming said the responsibility for that bill rests with the State Election Commission and the legislative delegation, because the commission didn't apply for a waiver from the federal government and the delegation recommended using the punch cards during the 2004 election.

"It's still in the lap of the delegation. It's not in our lap," Fleming said.

Fleming said the delegation should pass legislation to free Sumter from the bill and he's talked to Leventis about the problem.

"He's the chairman of the Sumter County delegation. That's all in his hands," Fleming said.

During an August legislative delegation meeting, Leventis said he didn't believe Sumter could be held responsible for the bill for the machines.

"As far as the incentives go, the State Election Commission has no authority to penalize Sumter County," he said.

Last week, Leventis sent a letter to U.S. Rep. John Spratt, D-S.C., asking if Sumter could still qualify for the federal incentive money that would have paid for the machines, even though South Carolina didn't apply for the waiver.

Spratt said he will investigate the matter, but he can't make promises.

Also last week, Leventis said he will no longer comment to The Item, because he believes the newspaper is biased against him.

The State Election Commission has refused to deliver 283 electronic voting machines until council agrees to pay for the machines. Council is refusing to pay for them, saying the state messed up by not applying for a waiver from the federal government that would have allowed it to use old machines and keep the federal incentive money that helped pay for the machines.

States had to apply for the waiver by Jan. 1, 2004, and 24 states took advantage of the waiver. South Carolina chose not to apply for the waiver because it expected the machines to be in place in the spring, with plenty of time to train workers and voters before the November election.

But the state's chief procurement officer, Mike Spicer, ordered the state commission to re-bid the contract in May because it was improperly awarded, with some of the losing vendors raising questions about Andino's relationship to the winning company. Andino once worked for Unisys, a subcontractor of ES&S, the company that won the bid. ES&S also won the re-bid, but the delay meant that counties didn't start receiving the machines until late August. The Sumter County Election Commission decided it didn't have enough time to train its poll workers before the November election.

Contact Staff Writer Leslie Cantu at lesliec@theitem.com or 803-774-1250.