Florida Secretary of State Susan Cobb rescinded the county's portion of the state's federal grant because the county hadn't purchased approved systems by the state's Jan. 31 deadline.

Leon County Elections Commissioner Ion Sancho said he is currently in talks with two vendors about buying adequate systems, and will reapply for the grant once contracts are signed.

At the same time, Sancho said the county will get the gear whether or not the grant is reapproved. "We still have the necessary funds. We have over $1 million in the elections budget for new equipment. Money is not the issue in this debate," he said.

The federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) legislation required that all precincts in the country install at least one touch-screen e-voting machine or a specially equipped optical scan system by Jan. 1. The state had extended the deadline by a month to be eligible for the federal funds it distributed to help the districts purchase voting gear. Leon County was one of two counties in the state to lose grant money, said a spokeswoman in the Secretary of State's office. Each of the other counties has installed, or has signed contracts to purchase compliant systems, she said.

The loss of the grant was the latest in a series of setbacks for Leon County in its effort to comply with HAVA.