County RFP excerpts

[Neal McBurnett <neal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The county RFP is very informative (as was being a pollwatcher at the
election the other night!)

The full RFP (74 pages) is at 
 http://bcv.booyaka.com/rfp.pdf

Here are some useful excerpts:

 The projected schedule for this project is as follows:

 5/9/03  RFP Issued
 5/22/03 Pre-proposal conference and site visit
 5/26/03 Questions due (by 3:00 p.m.)
 5/29/03 County issues answers to vendor's questions
 6/9/03 Proposals due
 6/10/03-6/23/03 Elections Review Committee evaluates RFP's
 7/7/03-8/8/03 Demonstrations/Oral Presentation Citizens Review Committee
 8/8/03-8/9/03 Demonstration/Presentation - Voting Fair
 09/30/03 Citizens Review Committee Comment Review
 10/31/03 Citizens Review Committee (CRC) findings submitted to Elections Review Committee (ERC)
 11/30/03 Contract Negotiations
 12/15/03 Award Contract

 II. PURPOSE Through this solicitation, Boulder County is seeking to
 procure a fully integrated voting system to replace the current
 Datavote punch card system that will include: " A Direct Record
 Electronic (DRE) component (both hardware and software) that can be
 used 1) at polling places and 2) during the early voting period. It
 shall be easy to use by all voters and accessible to those with
 visual impairments and those with other specific needs. " An Optical
 scan capability for absentee/vote by mail/provision voting component
 (both hardware and software) that will accommodate the County's
 current needs and will be capable of handling substantial growth in
 absentee voting in the near future. The integrated system will be
 used by the voters of Boulder County for Federal, State and local
 elections conducted within the term of the contract that results from
 this Request for Proposal

 III. BACKGROUND 1. Reason Boulder County is moving to a New Voting
 System Boulder County uses the Datavote punch card voting system. The
 use of punch card systems has been banned by the Federal Courts and
 the Colorado Secretary of State.

 On March 6, 2003, the Boulder County Commissioners directed the
 Boulder County Clerk & Recorders office to issue a Request for
 Proposal to acquire a voting system with a Direct Record Electronic
 (DRE) component that is integrated with an optical scan
 absentee/mail/provisional ballot component. The County must move to
 the new system by the August 2004 Colorado Primary Election.

 The DRE system component shall, at a minimum, be easy for the voter
 to use; the voting booth and voting device shall be easy to transport
 and easy for the poll workers to assemble and disassemble; this
 system component shall operate independently and not be tied to a
 larger network, like the internet or the County's network; it must
 receive both national and state certification prior to award of a
 contract and be secure and tamperproof; the system shall provide the
 ballot in multiple languages and have audio/voice capabilities to
 serve those voters who are visually impaired.

 The optical scan system component that will be used for absentee
 balloting shall be fully integrated (i.e., ballot layout, ballot
 generation, ballot tabulation and reporting) with the DRE system
 component. The ballots shall be easy for the voters to use, it shall
 be secure and tamperproof, and it shall provide the ballot in
 multiple languages.

 2. Constraints The County's final decision to acquire a new voting
 system will be contingent on finding a system that is manageable and
 capable of accommodating the needs of a large county in access of
 200,000 registered voters. It is also contingent on the County's
 receipt of HAVA funding and/or Federal funding to assist in the
 purchase of the system

 ...Boulder County uses the "Integrity" election management system and
 'Teamwork Ballot Tabulation", both developed by Sequoia Voting
 Systems.

 7.1 The vendor shall be prepared to support an optical scan type ballot,
 should the need arise.

 17.1 d. The proposed system shall produce, at the time the voter
 votes his OR her ballot OR at the time the polls are closed, a paper
 version or representation of the voted ballot OR of all the ballots
 cast on a unit of the voting system. The paper version shall not be
 provided to the voter but shall be Retained by the Boulder County
 Clerk & Recorder for use during any recount OR contest, as required
 by Colorado Revised Statutes.

 21.1 c. The proposed system shall move and store data from the DREs
 and absentee/mail/provisional ballot system, interfacing with Windows
 NT operating system software. Data being moved between components
 will be protected using industry standard encryption.

 21.1 d. All software used to move results shall generate logs reporting
 all unexpected error conditions, movement of vote totals, log data
 and operator activity occurring during any time votes are accumulated
 at the central count point.

 30.1 Requirement The proposed system shall have the ability to cast
 ballots using all special options prescribed by the Colorado
 Elections Code, including methods of selecting more than one
 candidate by casting a single vote (e.g., President and Vice
 President); other methods for handling cross-voting between parties
 in open, blanket or unitary primary elections; the "modified" closed
 primary; and any other pattern of voting authorized by the Elections
 Code.

 31....  The media also asks for key (targeted) precinct results to be
 printed once the precinct has been counted. Up to 20 precincts are
 identified as key precincts in a countywide election. The key
 precinct reports are automatically sent to a pre-determined printer.

 32.1  The software shall generate a statement of vote Report that complies
 with section 15501 of the Colorado Election Code.

 37.2 (3) What are the warehouse power requirements for 1,250 (1,000
 for polling places + 250 for line abatement and backup devices)? How
 many backup batteries can be charged simultaneously on a single
 20-amp circuit?

 53.1 b. The remainder of the system components shall be delivered
 beginning no later May 1, 2004 and ending no later than June 15,
 2004. d. Acceptance testing shall be completed after installation of
 the system, no later than June 15,2004.