LITTLE ROCK -- The sales director for California-based Unisyn Voting Solutions said Wednesday a request for proposal issued by Secretary of State Mark Martin for new voting equipment in the state's 75 counties favors Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software.
But a vice president for Election Systems & Software denied the claim.
Laura Labay, a spokeswoman for Martin, released a document Wednesday saying "it is the intention of the state to consider all vendors." She didn't respond directly to a question about whether the request for proposal favors Election Systems & Software, and she couldn't be reached for comment by telephone Wednesday.
Martin's office issued the request for proposal April 15 for a statewide, integrated voting system and set a deadline for companies to submit proposals for May 4 at 4 p.m.
Charlie Daniels purchased voting equipment through Election Systems & Software for about $15 million in 2005 when he was secretary of state and also gave the company a $4.9 million contract to provide the state's voter registration system.
Labay said her office has re-signed a contract with Election Systems & Software for the voter registration system, but didn't disclose the cost.
The secretary of state's office is considering replacing the voting equipment in 75 Arkansas counties "with a sole-source integrated voting system allowing for automation and full integration between polling place equipment and voter registration system(s)," according to a copy of the request for proposal released by Martin's office.
"If the project succeeds, the vendor shall be responsible for complete replacement, installation, training, testing and maintenance, including bridge maintenance for existing systems, no later than March 1, 2016," the request states. The maximum expenditure for the project would be $30 million, the secretary of state said.
That would allow Arkansas to participate in a proposed March 1 regional presidential primary with some Southern states in what its supporters are calling the SEC primary. The SEC is the Southeastern Conference, an athletic conference of universities in most of the Southern states.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson supports legislation shifting Arkansas' presidential primary election from May to March, and would support such a bill in a future special session, a spokesman for Hutchinson said last week.
The state Senate approved similar legislation in this year's regular session, but it died in the House State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee.
During Wednesday's meeting of the state Board of Election Commissioners, Justin Clay, election board director, told the commissioners they are required to approve voting equipment that meets the requirements under state law and the law requires "an alternate power source."
Commissioner Stu Soffer of Pine Bluff asked an official from Unisyn Voting Solutions whether its "equivalent of a rechargeable battery" meets the secretary of state's request for proposal for voting equipment.
"The request for proposal is different than what it's in the law," Soffer said.
"What I am getting at is, if the equipment does not meet the criteria, the specifications, then why are we even looking at it?"
Board Chairman A.J. Kelly, who works for the secretary of state, said "it is probably not this board's responsibility to decide whether or not it meets the secretary of state's criteria in the RFP."
"If the secretary of state considers it meets state law, but it doesn't meet the secretary's requirements, then that's an issue that the vendor may be able to address after the fact," he said.
During a break in the board's meeting, Barry Herron, director of sales for Unisyn, said the request issued by the secretary of state is drafted to benefit Election Systems & Software.
"It's written in very vague terms, no specifications, no accountability," he said.
Herron said he's not sure whether the company will send in a proposal.
He declined to specify which parts of the request of proposal he believes are written toward Election Systems & Software.
"We are in total compliance with the requirements to be certified [by the board for voting equipment]. Unfortunately, the RFP draft that we got is not in correlation with that new legislation that passed [Act 1218], so that's put us in a little bit of a quandary," he said.
Steve Pearson, vice president of voting systems for Election Systems & Software, said "we are confident that we meet requirements for the RFP" and he doesn't believe the request for proposal is written to benefit his company.
"We have been working in the state, so maybe the state is familiar with their election practices," he said.
During the board's meeting, Susan Inman, executive director of the Arkansas County Election Commissions Association, asked Election Systems & Software how the transition would be to new voting equipment if it's awarded the contract.
"I was here in 2006, and it was a nightmare," she said.
Jerry Amick, customer service manager for Election Systems & Software, said "it was a nightmare and I've always admitted that.
"We learned a lot of stuff in 2006 . and we have got a lot of places that you can call now, and they can tell you we are a lot better now," he said. "We ensure you we'll have a great implementation in the state."
Herron said some of Unisyn's staff has implemented multiple statewide voting systems "very smoothly and we have a methodology which we are going to deploy here which will make the transition seamless.
"It is all customer service-oriented," he said.
NW News on 04/23/2015