HORRY CO., (WBTW)- A few South Carolina law makers are hoping to use surplus money to pay for a new voting system. Horry County has seen issues with their voting machines in previous elections and even this past midterm election, citing the system’s old age as a reason.

Horry County Voting Commission Director Sandy Martin said they’re in desperate need of a new voting system. Right now, they have a little more than 700 machines, but she said that’s not enough for the population in Horry County.

Horry County had a 51 percent voter turnout for the midterm elections, and at one point all voting machines at two different precincts were down. Sandy Martin said they’ve had the same voting system since 2005 and it’s seeing some wear and tear.

“The screens are going bad, the batteries are going bad, the cases are breaking, the wheels are chopping off,” said Martin.

This isn’t an issue just in Horry County, but across the state, and a small group of lawmakers plan to file bipartisan legislation next month ahead of January’s session. They said the goal is to increase confidence in state elections.

“It definitely frustrates the voters when they go in and they see there’s a machine there that’s not working and its just out of our control a lot of times,” said Martin.

The South Carolina Elections Commission said they’re asking lawmakers for 60 million dollars. They said a new system could cost more than that, and they already have 10 million  dollars to go towards it.
The South Carolina Board of Economic Advisors said the state will have a more than 217 million dollar surplus. The lawmakers want to use those surplus funds for new voting machines.

News 13 asked local senator Stephen Goldfinch his thoughts.

“I do agree that we need to do something about voting machines, but I can’t tell you its going to take the bulk of those funds. In my opinion, education reform, teacher salary reform, and pension reform all those things are important,” said Senator Goldfinch.


 The state currently has more than 1,300 voting machines. Senator Goldfinch said a new voting system is in the top 10 of priorities, but he also said there are a lot of priorities that need funding now. 
The Horry County Voting Commission hopes to get new voting machines by the 2020 election.