A survey of voters who participated in the June Statewide Primaries shows that voters have confidence in the integrity of elections in South Carolina. 82 percent of voters surveyed are confident in South Carolina’s paper-based voting system, 90 percent are confident in the accuracy of elections in South Carolina, and 91 percent are confident in their county voter registration and elections office. See more key findings from the survey.
While the State Election Commission (SEC) is pleased with confidence from voters, the work to ensure elections are accurate, secure, and credible never ends. With that in mind, the SEC is announcing an enhancement to the statewide voting system ahead of the 2024 General Election in November. All current ballot scanners are being replaced with updated models in order to enhance election security and improve the efficiency of the results reporting process. The state has previously utilized DS200 ballot scanners from Election Systems & Software (ES&S) for all elections since 2020, but will be upgrading to using DS300 ballot scanners, also made by ES&S. While the new scanners look and feel similar to the older versions, they offer several improvements that benefit voters and election officials.
Major improvements of the DS300 scanners include:
Faster processing speeds for scanning ballots and producing results.
Smoother opening and closing process for poll workers.
Compatibility with updates to the Election Assistance Commission’s Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, a set of specifications and requirements against which voting systems can be tested.
“We are grateful that voters in South Carolina trust the work that election officials do, but we can’t get complacent,” said Howie Knapp, Executive Director of the SEC, “This upgrade reflects our commitment to providing a secure, accurate, and transparent voting process that is accessible to all eligible voters.”
