The St. Louis County Board of Elections unanimously voted Tuesday to shift toward using paper ballots and away from touch-screen voting machines.

The elections board is moving forward with a $6.9 million contract with Hart InterCivic to provide new voting machines and software that primarily run a paper ballot system. The new apparatus is expected to be in place for the Nov. 5 election.

A small number of touch-screen machines — one per polling station — will continue to be available for people with disabilities, said election board chair Sharon Buchanan-McClure.

The number of machines purchased and other details were unclear, since the contract was not immediately provided Tuesday.

The board held a closed-door meeting to discuss its voting machine options. Then, it opened the meeting to take the vote on the contract without any public discussion about its decision.

The paper ballot method should ease some of the county’s recent election day difficulties. It will allow ballots to be printed “on demand” at polling places, Buchanan-McClure said. Officials hope that function will make it easier for the county to avoid running out of ballots or giving out the wrong ballots to voters — problems in recent years.

A handful of political activists and advocates have also been putting pressure on the county for years to switch to a mostly paper ballot system. They had gone so far as to ask the Missouri General Assembly to consider banning touch-screen voting machines like the ones the county has been using. They consider electronic voting to be insecure and unreliable.

“They’re happy because they get the ballot on demand. We’re happy because we get hand-marked paper ballots,” said Cynthia Richards, after the county’s board vote for a paper ballot system. “I mean, it couldn’t have come out any better.”

Richards is a member of Missouri’s Coalition for Transparent and Secure Elections, a nonpartisan group that fights the use of electronic election ballots.

The county had considered voting-machine bids from three firms. The lowest bid was not selected, but Hart Intercivic provided the widest range of services, Buchanan-McClure said.

“We picked what we would consider the best product,” she said. “If we are talking about comparable equipment, they were the lowest bidder.”

The $6.9 million price tag is also about $3 million less than the county paid for its old voting system, Buchanan-McClure said.

A system that primarily makes use of paper ballots requires fewer machines and therefore is less expensive. The new voting system replaces machines that are 13 years old and a software system that is about two decades old, she said.

The cost of the new system will primarily be covered by the election board. It has set aside approximately $4 million to help purchase the system. The county will also use fees it charges municipalities for staging elections to cover the cost, said Eric Fey, St. Louis County’s Democratic elections director.

Fey said the election board can bill localities up to 5% of the total cost of an election. That money will be used to help pay for the new machines and software, he said.  The Missouri Secretary of State’s office has given the county a little over $160,000 to help cover the costs.

The elections board had started to get rid of the county’s old machines a few weeks ago — before the new equipment was purchased. It had to make room in its warehouse for the new machines, said Rick Stream, the county’s Republican elections director.

If St. Louis County had waited to start purging the old voting machines from its system until after the new contract had been approved, it would have run out of time to make space for the new equipment, Stream said. It takes several weeks to dispose of old voting machines.

Stream also said the county had taken precautionary measures to ensure that machines would be available for the next election.

The county has kept enough of the old machines to use in the November contest, which is a smaller election. If something were to go wrong with the new contract, the county could rely on the old voting machines, he said.

Follow Julie O’Donoghue on Twitter at @jsodonoghue

How to use Tarrant County’s new voting machines
By Tarrant County

August 28, 2019 09:43 AM
Tarrant County Commissioners recently approved an $11 million plan to buy new voting equipment, to be used starting November 2019, from Hart InterCivic. Here’s a look at how the machines work.

How to use Tarrant County’s new voting machines.

By Miranda Jaimes   |  6:59 pm Aug. 28, 2019 CDT

Tarrant County residents will cast their ballots on new machines this year for both early voting and voting day on Nov. 5.

On Aug. 27, Tarrant County Commissioners adopted the Hart InterCivic Verity Voting System as the official voting system for the county, according to a county news release.

Earlier this month, commissioners approved an $11 million plan to purchase the voting equipment from Hart InterCivic, Elections Administrator Heider Garcia said. County commissioners had set aside the money for the new voting machines some time ago, he said.

These new machines will completely replace the machines the county has used in years past.

The new machines combine the best parts of the former system, Garcia said. Before, early voters were able to vote electronically, but would not receive a receipt or documentation to show their selections were counted. Voters who showed up on election day had to fill out paper ballots but had documentation to show their choices.

Now voting will be done in a two-step system, where voters will cast their ballots electronically using a touch screen. Following this, they’ll receive a paper copy of their votes and insert this in a separate ballot box at the end of the process.

“Early voters get a paper trail, and Election Day voters get the precision and the accuracy of an electronic vote that does not have to interpret handmade marks—filling in the oval and circling the names—that might have been misread by a scanner. That’s gone,” Garcia said.

The voting machines the county had been using were about 15 years old, Garcia said, so it was time for an update to the system.

To help spread public awareness for the new machines, county officials have reached out to every city and school district to set up the new machines as public gatherings. The goal is to introduce the public to the machines before they have to use them for the November election, and answer any questions about them the public may have.

Another benefit of the new machines is they now allow residents to vote from any polling place within Tarrant County, according to the news release.

Tarrant County voters will be casting ballots on new machines for this year’s Nov. 5 constitutional amendment election.County Commissioners recently signed off on an $11 million plan to buy this new equipment, part of Austin-based Hart InterCivic’s Verity line.

These machines, approved for use by the Texas Secretary of State’s office, include a paper trail.

Voters will use a touchscreen to review the ballot and make their choices. The machine will print a list of the candidates chosen. After reviewing votes on the sheet, voters must put their paper ballot into one of the scanners to formally cast their vote and drop it into the ballot box.

Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia has asked the state to allow countywide vote centers — which would let voters cast ballots at any polling place in the county on Election Day — as soon as the November election.

No decision has been announced yet. The deadline for the Secretary of State’s office to approve the request is Sept. 12.

Dozens of Texas counties — including Harris, Ellis, Collin, Hidalgo, Jack, Lubbock and McLennan — already have been approved for countywide vote centers.

Early voting runs from Oct. 21-Nov. 1.

By Anna M. Tinsley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

New voting machines in Hays County are promising to quiet fears that elections can be hacked or rigged. And they also include one feature that’s back by popular demand.

Hays County commissioners recently approved the purchase of a new hybrid system that features touch screen voting and paper backup. Touch screen because it’s 2019, and paper backup because you asked for it. Jennifer Anderson, the Hays County elections administrator explains, “Our voters asked for paper verifiable paper trails so we’re making that change for that.”

In his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump complained there might be problems with electronic voting. “When the outcome is fixed, when the system is rigged, people lose hope,” he said.

And he wasn’t alone. Digital voting systems convert the voters’ wishes into ones and zeros with no way of recounting the vote except by reprocessing the same possibly-flawed data. Avi Rubin, a computer science professor for Johns Hopkins University said, “We need to be able to go back and say, ‘Look we can prove that the election wasn’t rigged. Here are the ballots. We can perform recounts.'”

The new Hays County addresses those concerns. You vote on a touch screen and get a hard copy of your selections to look over. Anderson adds, “You can verify at that time and if everything looks right then you move over to the scanner which actually records your vote and leaves it in the containment area for recount purposes or post-election auditing.”

So the recount will be a re-scan of the same paper ballot you personally reviewed before you submitted it into the ballot box.

And as for possibly hacking the election? This system is never on line.

Feel better about voting?

by Fred Cantu, CBS Austin

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has certified the Verity® Voting system from Hart InterCivic. This much-anticipated certification of Verity clears the way for election officials to begin upgrading voting systems with Verity – the modern secure system that fits the way North Carolina votes.

“Verity brings a fresh approach to North Carolina,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic. “Verity is the voting system of choice for jurisdictions across the country, and 95 percent of customers who switched from another vendor gave Hart’s service the highest satisfaction rating in our most recent customer survey. We are eager to show North Carolina voters an easier, more trustworthy experience.”

A leader in the elections industry for over 100 years, Hart has developed deep expertise in helping jurisdictions of all sizes safely and efficiently transition from outdated voting equipment to reliable, modern solutions. Hart has gained a reputation as a trusted partner for high-challenge implementations with a proven track record of success.

Verity’s advantages for North Carolina include:

• The Verity configuration for North Carolina is a hand-marked paper ballot system and does not ever embed voter selections in a barcode
• Best-in-industry security protocols, including white listing, encryption, two-factor authentication and redundant data storage to safeguard the sanctity of the vote
• Easiest to use system for voters and election officials with plain-language instructions and consistently user-centric software and hardware design
• Full accessibility features provide an equal and independent experience for voters with disabilities

These features and every other Verity function were carefully vetted during the North Carolina certification process. Combined with the rigors of federal certification by the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), the State’s process assures election stakeholders that the system will deliver trustworthy results on behalf of the state’s voters.

For more information on the Verity Voting system, please visit www.hartintercivic.com/voting-solutions/verityoverview/.

New Hart InterCivic voting technology approved by Tarrant and Hays Counties will enable the Counties to switch to popular, efficient Vote Centers in time for November elections.

Both jurisdictions chose the Verity® Voting system featuring Verity Duo within weeks of certification by the Secretary of State’s office. The newest technology in the Verity family, Verity Duo is a hybrid voting device that combines the ease of a touchscreen with the assurance of a paper trail.  Verity is increasingly the system of choice in Texas with thousands of devices in service.  Verity Duo has already been used in binding elections outside of Texas.

“New technology made Vote Centers an option in Tarrant County,” said Elections Administrator Heider Garcia. “We performed a very rigorous, very strict evaluation of options available to us. Hart scored the highest in general and in technical categories. We know voters will be pleased with paper-trail security and Vote Center convenience.”

In Hays County, officials have considered a move to Vote Centers for almost two years, and voters are eager for the paper-trail option that Verity delivers.  “Moving to Vote Centers demands upgraded equipment plus we are confident in the extra support and training that we will have with Hart,” said Hays County Elections Administrator Jennifer Anderson. “We expect Verity to be an accurate and efficient change. Moving to Vote Centers and adding a paper trail before 2020 is good timing for us.”

Vote Centers allow any registered voter in the county to cast their Election Day ballot at whichever polling location is most convenient. Duo handles thousands of electronic ballot styles without the complications of pre-printing traditional paper ballots, making it ideally suited for Early Voting or Vote Centers. It was designed from the ground up to meet growing requests for paper records.

“We are proud that Tarrant and Hays Counties have chosen Verity.  Verity is designed and manufactured in Texas, and we value our relationships with fellow Texans,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.

The security of Verity, which is equipped with the leading best practices in both digital and physical security, figures prominently for the Counties.

“In an era where we will be seeing more post-election auditing, the paper trail is essential to voter confidence. Verity has double the security, both physical and electronic,” said Anderson, who serves on the executive committee of the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), a nationwide group chartered to prevent cyber threats.

“We were very impressed with the thought that Hart has put into Verity’s security,” said Garcia, whose background includes 13 years as a computer engineer and designer within the election technology space.  He has also served as an election administrator for 4 years, including his time in Tarrant County which has about 1,200,000 registered voters. “We are very confident in Verity. It has the physical and software protections of a high-quality product.”

Both counties expect improved voter confidence and excellent user experiences throughout the election process.

“We’ve heard nothing but good feedback from other Verity users. We expect a faster, more accurate election with less human error,” said Anderson. “Poll workers should find it less stressful and so much easier to use new equipment. The compact, lightweight size will be appreciated in the warehouse and by the election worker loading a unit into the car,” she said. Anderson has seen elections from every angle. Not only has she served in her position for three years, she has been a poll worker and on staff for an elected official.

Tarrant County’s rigorous evaluation testing also points to ease of use and confidence in Verity. The team included a senior security officer, IT staff, networking representatives, an absentee ballot expert, warehouse representatives, and more hands-on users. “We covered all the aspects of a new system and found what best fit the needs of Tarrant County,” said Garcia.

Anderson is also confident that Verity meets the needs of her Hays constituents based on competitive demonstrations and scrutiny.

“Hart had the right answers when tough questions were raised about functions of the competing systems.” she said.

Concerns raised in Hays County, with about 135,000 registered voters, included:

• Does the scanner read a computer barcode or actual words on the pages to record the vote? Verity Duo is the only certified voting system that scans the words that the voter can verify.
• How are provisional ballots handled? Only Verity Duo prevents scanning provisional ballots at the polls without poll worker interaction. No poll worker marking of the ballot is required.
• Can someone who chooses a Spanish-language ballot review that ballot in Spanish? Verity Duo provides the voter with a ballot summary in the language they selected.

Both Counties are confident in smooth – if fast-paced – transitions to their new Verity Voting system based on Hart’s record of excellent customer support.

“We’ve worked with Hart for more than a decade, and we know they fulfill commitments. They’ve done this before. Finding out Hart was behind our top-rated system gives us peace of mind,” said Garcia. “We know them and their reputation. We’re happy.”

“We’ve always had a solid, professional relationship with Hart. We can count on them. Plus, a verifiable system is the right way to go,” said Anderson. “I would tell any county looking for a system in the next two years to look at a verifiable solution. We waited for a good solution and it was the right choice. Better safe than sorry.”

Verity, already popular in Texas, is gaining momentum as the system of choice for counties across the U.S. preparing for 2020 elections. Braithwaite expects the latest certification to meet the needs of more jurisdictions looking for paper-trail accountability.

“No one knows election technology better than Hart,” he said. “Verity delivers a flexible solution with topmost security. Stay tuned for more announcements as we provide the best systems to help advance democracy.”

For more information about the Verity Voting system, please visit https://www.hartintercivic.com/texas/

Calaveras County will no longer have to rely on third-party vendors when it takes control of ballot preparation using the modern, secure Verity® Voting system from long-time election solution provider Hart InterCivic. Verity was chosen over older systems, including one from the County’s current provider, for its time-saving and efficient approach to ballot production.

“Verity allows us to be 100% in control of the election process from beginning to end,” said Rebecca Turner, Registrar of Voters.

“The best part is being able to bring ballot production in house.  Verity combines the robust features we need with a simple, intuitive user interface.  This allows us to build our elections from the ground up without being dependent on a vendor.”

“This will save a tremendous amount of time and allow us to focus on other aspects of the election,” she added.

“We are happy to welcome Calaveras County to the Hart family. As Ms.Turner’s office works more with Verity, I expect them to appreciate even more efficiencies,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, a U.S. company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions. “We look forward to introducing all that Verity has to offer.”

For Calaveras County, another key selling point in choosing Hart was the ability to use commercial off-the-shelf ballot-counting equipment. “It reduces the costs of the scanning equipment and allows a small county like us to be able to purchase backup equipment,” said Turner. “We no longer have to worry about what to do if the scanner stops working before we have counted all the ballots for an election.”

With about 30,000 registered voters, Calaveras County will vote using Verity for the first time for its November Special Election. Their partnership with Hart includes hands-on training and assistance from experienced Hart staff.

Turner is looking forward to using Verity’s adjudication function to dramatically reduce the time spent on duplicating ballots.

“Verity will provide an audit log of the adjudication for us to refer to in the future,” she said. “Plus, the ability for the system to print out batch reports to put with scanned ballots keeps the process clean and auditable.”

Although new to working with Hart, Turner already appreciates the company’s unmatched level of customer care and responsiveness.

“The employees at Hart have been wonderful to work with. Definitely an expedient and helpful company,” she said. “Once the contract was awarded, everyone at Hart was extremely helpful getting it amended and finalized quickly. The equipment was actually delivered a little over one week after the contract was finalized!”

A number of California counties are considering switching to Verity before upcoming elections, and Braithwaite expects more announcements soon.

Learn more about Verity: https://www.hartintercivic.com/state/california/

 

The Indiana Secretary of State’s office has certified the latest major release of Hart InterCivic’s Verity® Voting system for use in the State. This milestone clears the way for Indiana counties to purchase Verity, the most modern and secure system available.

Verity is an integrated suite of software and a thoughtful combination of U.S.-assembled, purpose-built devices and enterprise-grade commercial hardware, designed from the ground up to make the election process easier and more secure for voters and administrators. The system supports paper ballots as well as hybrid voting options, and it is fully accessible to all voters, including those with disabilities.

Verity is increasingly the system of choice as counties across the U.S. prepare for 2020 elections. Hart expects the certification to open doors to more jurisdictions looking for a traditional paper ballot or hybrid paper-trail option as they replace aging systems.

“The flexible Verity system is part of Hart’s ongoing commitment to efficient, secure voting solutions. We are proud that Verity has met Indiana’s rigorous standards and we can continue delivering safe, secure elections here,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, a U.S. company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.

Voters mark their ballots by hand or with the user-friendly Verity Touch Writer, an ADA-compliant paper ballot marking device that provides seamless accessibility at the polling place. Verity Scan allows voters to feed their marked ballots directly into the tabulation device and verify their cast votes.

Verity Print, an on-demand ballot printer in a compact, portable case, saves on the guesswork and waste of pre-printing ballots. The menu-driven device is designed specifically to be easy to learn and easy to use for poll workers. Unlike other on-demand ballot printing solutions, Verity Print does not impose per-click charges.

Verity Duo is a hybrid voting method with the ease of touchscreen and the assurance of a paper trail.  Verity Duo is the only hybrid solution on the market that counts votes directly from a human-readable printed summary, not from a bar code that only a machine can read.

• First federally certified in May 2015, Verity includes an array of thoughtful advantages:
• Best-in-industry security protocols to safeguard the sanctity of the vote, including white listing, encryption, two-factor authentication, and redundant data storage.
• Easiest to use system for voters and election officials, with plain-language instructions and consistently user-centric software and hardware design
• A smart, long-term investment because Verity is an all-new, modern platform with a fresh supply chain, not an add-on extension to an already outdated legacy system.
• Compact, lightweight polling place devices that save storage and transportation costs.  Verity devices have the smallest physical footprint in the industry.

“Verity is built for the future and flexible enough to adapt to changing demands,” Braithwaite said. “Some counties want touchscreens; some want paper ballots; some want the best of both. Our technology delivers on all levels.”

For more information about the Verity Voting system, please visit  https://www.hartintercivic.com/state/indiana/

The Secretary of State’s office this week certified the latest release of Hart InterCivic’s Verity® Voting system. This milestone means that the newest product in the Verity family, Verity Duo, is immediately available for purchase in Texas. Duo is a hybrid voting device that combines the ease of a touchscreen with the assurance of a paper trail. Certification assures jurisdictions that this update to Verity has met the rigorous testing that Texas demands.

The flexible Verity system, already in use in many Texas counties, now includes Verity Duo, which combines touchscreen ballot marking with a voter-friendly printed vote record, plus other enhancements.

Verity Duo is the only hybrid solution on the market that counts votes directly from a human-readable printed summary, not from a barcode that only a machine can read. Many jurisdictions have requested this functionality from trusted partner Hart.

“Hart is proud to meet the highest standards set for Texas voting systems. Verity is designed and manufactured in Texas, and we value our relationships with fellow Texans,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.

“Verity Duo is a direct response to those wanting an efficient paper-verified voting solution that each voter can check before leaving the polling place. The touchscreen component is easy for voters and efficient for poll workers,” he said. “Hart is ready to begin delivery immediately.”

The new version of Verity achieved federal certification in March and has also been certified by Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Additional states are testing Verity’s new release and announcements are expected soon, Braithwaite said.

In addition to Verity Duo, newly certified features assure that Verity can handle the highest volumes for large jurisdictions. Other improvements increase efficiencies related to election preparation, vote counting and audits. A new serialized seal increases physical security on devices and workstations.

Election teams appreciate the ease of storing, transporting and setting up Verity’s compact, lightweight polling place devices.

“Verity is built for the future and flexible enough to adapt to changing demands,” Braithwaite said. “Some counties want touchscreens; some want paper ballots; some want the best of both. Our technology delivers on all levels.”

Verity devices are already widely deployed in Texas, and Verity is increasingly the system of choice as counties across the U.S. prepare for 2020 elections. Braithwaite expects the certification to open doors to more jurisdictions looking to upgrade their aging voting systems.

For more information about the Verity Voting system, please visit https://www.hartintercivic.com/state/texas/