News - Local/State

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008

S.C. counties sticking with touch-screen voting machines

Many voters across the country will use paper ballots when they go to the polls in November.

But not in York and Chester counties, or in any other county in the state.

Despite concerns by officials in other states about the accuracy of electronic voting, South Carolina is sticking with the touch-screen machines it has used since 2004.

"We're confident in the system and it's worked well for us," said Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the State Election Commission. "We haven't experienced the same type of problems that other states apparently have had. We feel like we're using one of the most advanced voting systems in the world and it's accurate and it's secure and easy to use."

After the election debacle in 2000, federal lawmakers hoping to improve voting technology passed the Help America Vote Act, which gave states money to upgrade voting systems, specifically replacing the punch-cards that were so troublesome in Florida.

Before a uniform system was created, South Carolina voters used a hodge-podge of six voting methods, including punch-cards and other voting machines.

Fifteen South Carolina counties, including York County, used electronic machines in the 2004 general election. And in the June 2006 primaries, all counties were part of the same system.

Various problems have occurred with the machines, Whitmire said, but they were caused by human error.

However, states across the country have placed their machines in storage. California outlawed most electronic machines last summer. And recently, Ohio's secretary of state ordered all 53 counties using electronic machines to print paper ballots to accommodate voters in November who opt out of e-voting.

These moves has been largely been prompted by fears of hackers and technical glitches. Many states have replaced electronic voting machines with scanners that will read paper ballots.

An Associated Press Election Research survey has found that 57 percent of the country's registered voters live in counties that will be relying on paper ballots this fall.

And because of growth in the electorate over the past decade, the expansion of absentee voting rules and expectations of high turnout for the contest between Barack Obama and John McCain, some experts are predicting a record number of Americans will cast ballots on paper this year.

Here's what local people had to say about the paper/machine debate:

"Well, I'm older, see," said 86-year-old John Elliott, a Chester resident who, since he became eligible, has voted in every election except for the years he served in the U.S. Army during World War II. "I believe I like the paper (ballots) the best. They're easier, you know."

"I know it's a difficult system, going through all that," said 22-year-old Janelle Dunlap, president of Winthrop University's College Democrats and a proponent of paper ballots. "But it just seems like ... a much more accurate system."

"We wish, I know I do, personally, we could make it more convenient and electronic where we can tabulate results a lot sooner than what we do," said Glenn McCall, chairman of the York County Republican Party. "I'm sure there are some things we can do to make voters feel more comfortable with the electronic machine versus the paper. I think it's so inefficient going back to paper -- and costly."

"I don't have a problem with (an electronic system)," said Earl Moore, director of the Chester County Election Commission. "I've used the machines extensively. They're reliable if operated properly as any machine or computer. I think they're a whole lot safer than paper ballots."

"The voting machine process is one that I've come to trust, and that I know the Democratic Party folks trust, primarily because we trust the elections staff," said Jim Watkins, chairman of the York County Democratic Party. "Voters in South Carolina have nothing to fear. Their votes will be counted. And you can trust the process."

Charles D. Perry • 329-4068

The Associated Press contributed to this report.