South Carolina election officials have taken a key step toward replacing the state’s 13,000 outdated voting machines and want the new system to generate a paper record after each ballot is cast. The state Election Commission on Friday outlined its call for a “statewide voting system solution” in a request for proposal, or RFP. The RFP marks the first formal step in soliciting contracts or bids from voting system vendors. Officials want the new system implemented by January 2020, ahead of the next presidential election. The touchscreen machines South Carolina voters have used since 2004 provide no paper record, making the Palmetto State one of five states where voting machines do not leave a paper trail behind. That means when there’s a contested election or a suspected security breach, there is currently no paper component for auditing results.
“Just about everybody who has a stake in an election has expressed support for replacing the current voting system with a system that has paper,” said commission spokesman Chris Whitmire.
Whitmire said the commission is asking for proposals for two different types of systems: ballot marking devices and hand-marked optical scan systems.
Full Article: SC Election Commission requesting new voting system that they say must have paper trail | Palmetto Politics | postandcourier.com.