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March 24, 2017
Voting System Purchase Update
Things are progressing on the voting system purchase
front! To date, 25 counties have selected their new system – see the
latest update here: Vendor
Selection Summary.
Of these, 13 counties have jurisdictions that will begin
using the new systems in conjunction with the August 8, 2017 election. An
interactive map can also be found here: Voting
System Implementation Map. All counties have been asked to submit
their vendor selections to the Bureau of Elections (BOE) by April 14.
BOE is regularly communicating through the County Clerks,
who will assist in coordinating plans for the gradual rollout, equipment and
software orders, and delivery and training schedules with the vendors. At this
point, our major focus is on preparing those jurisdictions implementing the new
systems in August. As your implementation schedules are finalized, BOE
will provide you with a Grant Agreement, which must be signed and
returned before orders can be placed. These grant agreements
establish ownership of the equipment at the local level, set requirements for
ongoing records maintenance and establish equipment totals for each county and
local city and township. For those implementing in August, grants will be
distributed in the next several days. (You will be notified once your
grant is ready.) For those implementing this November, grants will be
generated later this summer.
Vendors will provide extensive training and support to
assist all jurisdictions in fully preparing for the use of their new
systems.
Some important reminders:
- Contracts are for a 10-year term. The initial purchase includes 5 years of service & maintenance. The available Federal and State funding ($40 million statewide) covers the majority of the costs for the initial 5-year period.
- Contracts include the purchase of tabulators (one per precinct); accessible voting devices for use by voters with disabilities (one per polling place, with some exceptions); and Election Management System (EMS) software (one per county, and for select cities and townships).
Limited funding is also available for additional
tabulators utilized in Absent Voter Counting Boards (AVCBs), based on the
overall volume of AV voters in jurisdictions utilizing AVCBs. Contact
your county or BOE for more information on this topic, if needed.
Jurisdictions who will not begin using the new systems in
August are welcome and encouraged to contact their neighboring jurisdictions
and counties who are participating, to start becoming more familiar with the
new systems. Smaller elections in the odd year are the ideal time to
begin this process. Full statewide rollout of the new systems is planned
for August 2018.
Please continue to watch for these
updates as key steps in the purchase process continue to evolve. Remember
that the Bureau of Elections regularly updates its dedicated Voting
System Purchase web page, so check this site often. (You can find
this site directly by visiting the main BOE web page at www.mi.gov/elections; under Information
for Election Administrators; What’s New.) If you have further
questions or needs, don’t hesitate to contact BOE at 800-292-5973; or by email
at elections@mi.gov.
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