Columbia, SC (WLTX) — In a phone call with WLTX on Friday, United States Representative Jim Clyburn called for South Carolina to stop using its aging voting equipment.
Clyburn was recently re-elected from the 6th District and announced his candidacy for Majority Whip in the House of Representatives.
But, he had strong words for the voting equipment in his home state.
"Yes, we need to throw out this equipment we got," Clyburn said on the phone call.
In recent weeks, WLTX reported extensively on issues with the state's aging equipment.
Clyburn joins a growing list of officials and election monitors calling for a change.
"We need to spend whatever money is necessary, if it were me, that windfall that we're getting from that last-- that lottery the other day, it seems to be just the amount of money we need to fix our electoral process. Put in a paper trail," Clyburn continued during the same phone call.
Clyburn is referencing the roughly $60 million expected to come in from taxes on the Mega Millions jackpot, won in South Carolina.
The $60 million on jackpot taxes is separate from the $10-$15 million set aside for South Carolina education from ticket sales, according to officials when the win was announced last month.
$60 million is also the same amount the South Carolina State Election Commission requested in this year's budget for replacement equipment.
"I want to make the case for South Carolina showing the country how to respond to this crisis, this fault line that's developed in our electoral process," Clyburn said.
But the Congressman wasn't done.
"There's something wrong with what's going on down in Georgia, they're making a mockery out of the process. And South Carolina is ripe for the same thing to happen," Clyburn continued.
This week, a USC professor of computer science made a similar claim when advocating for a change.
Clyburn joins the professor, the Richland County Election Director, and State Election Commission in asking for a new system.
South Carolina's next budget goes into effect on July 1, 2019.