Beaufort board presses state funding, warns of procurement timing risks for new voting equipment

Beaufort County election officials spent a large portion of their May 22 meeting debating whether state funding will cover a planned upgrade to voting equipment and what to do if it does not.

Staff used May 13 registration data to forecast turnout for the November general election and proposed equipment and poll-worker needs to match expected turnout. The forecast estimated 75% overall turnout with 60% on election day and projected the county would need "208 electronic poll books, 85 DS200 scanners" and about "771 poll workers," up from 443 in 2022, according to staff.

Board members focused on whether the State Election Commission (SEC) would provide funds for a statewide purchase of newer DS300 scanners. "The Senate approved 12,000,000 out of that 25 [million], and the house approved $1," a board member said, summarizing the competing legislative proposals. One board member reported a separate conversation with a state senator that suggested the requested money had been approved and signed; staff and other board members said the budget was still unsettled and that approval would likely depend on conference committee outcomes in June.

Director Marie Smalls told the board the county must plan for contingencies. "If we don't get the amount of money that we requested... perhaps the county will have to be a stop gap for the purchase of that equipment," she said, adding that any county purchase must be authorized by the SEC and that firmware and equipment-type differences complicate a patchwork approach. "Even though they may belong to the county, the state has a lot to say and do about it," she said.

Board members asked for a timeline: when a final decision on equipment type must be made to allow ordering, testing and programming in time for November. Staff said equipment suppliers had stock and that the SEC representative had "assured us that once everything is in place, the equipment will... be in more than enough time to be ready," but could not give exact dates. Board members cautioned that if the state buys newer DS300 models but Beaufort receives older DS200s or mixed models, firmware compatibility and certification could create added work.

Some members pressed the county to prepare a backfill budget request to the county administration so the county could procure equipment on a contingency basis if the SEC funding fell short; staff said county budget timing and approval processes would limit immediate purchases until June. Finance committee members noted the county already holds substantial equipment inventory (examples given in the meeting included 105 scanners, 213 electronic poll books and 565 ballot-marking devices), and suggested reallocating equipment where possible.

No formal procurement decision was taken; the board directed staff to continue coordination with the SEC and the county budget office and to plan for contingencies so the November election can be conducted if state funding is reduced or delayed.