South Carolina voters will use the same voting method across the board for the first time during the June 13 party primaries.

The iVotronic electronic touch screen voting machines — 271 in all — made their way to the Orangeburg County Election Commission offices in January 2005. While some of them have been used in several municipal elections, school board elections and, in their inaugural use, for the Claflin University Student Government Association elections in March 2005, Orangeburg County Director of Voter Registration Earl Whalen said this is the first time the entire state will participate in the election process using the exact same machines simultaneously.

“From now on, every citizen that ever goes to vote will be touching a screen to cast their votes,” he said. “The process has not changed at all, except instead of a paper ballot, it’s electronic. It’s a lot more foolproof and a lot more accurate.”

However, Whalen said a portion of the system, such as absentee ballots, will still be done the old-fashioned way, on paper. And emergency paper ballots will be sent to precincts just in case of equipment failure.

Whalen was on hand Friday afternoon at the Orangeburg County Administrative Centre for the required public logic and accuracy test, which allows the public to assist voter registration officials in ensuring randomly selected machines are working properly.

Of the 271 machines Orangeburg County owns — which carried an estimated price tag of $1.2 million dollars, funded through federal tax dollars and a 5 percent state match — Whalen said 223 will be shipped out to the county’s 53 precincts. That means at least one electronic voting machine will be available for every 250 registered voters in the county, he said.

“All of these units can be placed at wheelchair height ... or used in curbside voting for the elderly or handicapped,” Whalen said.

Every precinct will also be equipped with one ADA-compliant audio ballot for visually impaired voters.

“When we activate this for a blind voter, it would not produce a visual ballot — it will produce an audio ballot,” Whalen said. “The people in the blind community are thrilled. They now have the freedom to come to the polls and vote individually without having to receive assistance from anybody.”

The machines are easy enough to operate. Once the voter has checked in with poll workers and received a slip alerting them of the primary they will be voting in, the poll worker activates the ballot by inserting a Personal Electronic Ballot device into the electronic voting machine.

Voters are then left to navigate the ballot using arrows and making selections with the touch of a finger. The touch screen prevents voters from selecting more candidates than any given office allows.

If Tuesday’s primary were a two-page ballot instead of one, voters would be able to use the “Next” and “Back” screen displays to change their ballot at any time.

Whalen said probably one of the best features, however, of the new voting machines is that voters will have the opportunity to once and for all review what they have chosen.

“It very clearly identifies who you voted for,” he said. “In the past, we had voters who didn’t properly mark their ballots ... This system, you absolutely cannot over-vote a ballot.”

And, although state law mandates that voters can submit a blank ballot, Whalen said a warning screen will pop up to ensure that is the voter’s final decision.

“It forces everybody, before you can cast your ballot, you’ve got to review it,” he said. As for mistakes or proclamations of making a mistake when voting, Whalen added, “You’ll never hear that in South Carolina because this system forces you to look at every page of the ballot before you can cast it.

“It’s just amazing how fool-proof they have made this system. And easy.”

Whalen said the response from the community has been amazing, as the voter registration office has conducted more than 100 demonstrations county-wide since receiving the machines.

“It’s not a computer. It’s really just a visual ballot,” he said. “The elderly community has accepted it very well. They were a little apprehensive at first ... but (after testing them) it sounded like a broken record, ’Oh, it’s that easy.’

“It’s a little more of a transition for Orangeburg County because we are transitioning from paper to electronic.”

Reassuringly, Whalen said if people do have problems at the polls using the new machines, they are more than welcome to ask for assistance from the poll workers.

“Our poll workers have all been instructed extensively on how to assist our voters with this new equipment,” he said. “We’re welcoming our voters to ask questions.”

Voters can choose which primary, Democratic or Republican, they would like to participate in. Once the choice is made Tuesday, voters will not be allowed to switch party affiliation in the event of a run-off, which would be held Tuesday, June 27.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. tomorrow, and absentee voters can vote in person at their county voter registration office up until 5 p.m. today. Absentee ballots already requested via mail must arrive back at the voter registration office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 13. Those waiting in line at the polls at 7 p.m. will still be allowed to vote.

For more information, visit www.scvotes.org.

-- T&D Staff Writer Wendy Jeffcoat can be reached at wjeffcoat@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-534-1060. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

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