A new study by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law found that 43 states, including South Carolina, have voting machines that are at least 10 years old, past their life expectancy, and that’s likely to lengthen voting lines on Election Day. South Carolina has been using its current voting machines since 2004. “How many people out there are using 11-, 12-year-old laptops? Probably not too many, and that’s because they reach the end of life cycle and become obsolete,” says Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the South Carolina Election Commission. He says the state’s voting machines are not obsolete, though, even though they are old.
“It’s accurate. It’s easy to use. It counts votes accurately. It does the things that it’s supposed to do. But we do see a slight uptick in some failure of machines, and that means that a machine can die on Election Day. Doesn’t mean the votes are lost–we can always go in and get the votes that were cast on that machine,” he says. That’s because the machines have redundant memory systems—three regular memories plus a flash card, so even if one or more were to fail, the votes would be backed up.
He says lines will be long in the upcoming presidential primaries and General Election next year, but that will be because it’s a presidential election year without an incumbent, regardless of whether any voting machines break down.
Full Article: SC’s old voting machines could slow voting | WBTW.com.