COLOMBIA, SC (AP) – A group of South Carolina senators initiated a review of the agency that holds elections praising the way it handled voting during a pandemic in 2020.
A Senate oversight subcommittee asked questions on Thursday to South Carolina Electoral Commission Director Marci Andino about his plans for the future and she talked about the new voting software and planned security updates to the voting system. across the state. They also asked her to come back for another meeting after the time was up.
Senators also thanked Andino for getting money to get protective equipment for election officials and polling stations to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and to train new employees quickly when elders decided to stay home because they were concerned about the disease.
They also praised her for dealing with a crowd of absent votes in the June and November primary elections, which broke all records after someone was allowed to vote in this way because of the pandemic.
“I think they did an incredible job in the most difficult circumstances, probably any of us could never have imagined it,” said Sen. Nikki Setzler, a Democrat from West Columbia.
“It was probably the best and most peaceful general election I can remember in the worst circumstances,” said Andino, who had temporary officials in office to keep the absentee vote available, while outbreaks spread among regular workers.
The next big task for Andino is a software update that will make the operating system for electoral computers more secure and change a confusing layout system.
In 2020, the only choice voters could make on the front page was to vote for a direct party ticket. If they made a selection and did not skip that page, the rest of the computerized ballot was marked for candidates from that party, although they could make changes.
About 63% of all voters chose a party in 2020, compared to 50% in the previous presidential election in 2016 and election officials and others feared that part of this increase may have been caused by the confusion.
The teams will spend the next few months installing the new software, Andino said.
“Our team has to touch every job in the county, every voting device used in polling stations,” said Andino.
South Carolina lawmakers have filed a series of bills to alter the elections, including transferring them from the independent State Election Commission to the post of elected Secretary of State.
But only a few proposals have received hearings, including one requiring counties to follow state standards in checking for absentee ballots and other electoral issues, and another giving the Legislature some oversight over members appointed to the State Election Commission.
___
Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.