SOUTH CAROLINA -- Voters at the polls Tuesday for local races around South Carolina for the first time ever had the chance to use the state's new polling machines.
The state spent $51 million dollars for the upgrade. With the new machines selections are made like normal, but then a ballot is printed and submitted so there's a paper record in case of recounts.
The ballot-marking device does not count any votes, officials said. Voters take their printed ballot and to a scanner and it reads the barcodes at the top of the ballot.
Chris Whitmire with the State Election Commission (SEC)said the paper trail makes elections more secure in the Palmetto State. "We have that paper record we can audit it to make sure it matches up with what was scanned."
The State Election Commission said before the Presidential Election in November 2020, the new system will be used a few times. "Each election we use the system in, we learn a little bit more," Whitmire said.
,quality(10),blur(50))