Second time’s the charm

This past Thursday, Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir once again issued a request for proposal for a new voting system for Travis County. If you recall, the last attempt, which would have been open source, was thwarted by the marketplace. A press release from the County Clerk’s Office explains, “The initial goal for Travis County was to build a customized voting system (STAR-Vote) that included highly-specialized security and accessibility features not currently available in the marketplace, coupled with off-the-shelf hardware to realize cost savings. Unfortunately, we were unable to advance that model. The RFP released on November 9 is the logical next step… The County Clerk and her team engaged in a considerable study of election security methods while developing the requirements for the STAR-Vote system. That work is reflected in this RFP. The Clerk’s Office has identified the must-have security and accessibility features, and have included them, with the goal of acquiring an election system that maximizes the best in current technology. In spite of the fact that the next election system used in Travis County will likely come from the traditional proprietary model, the Clerk feels she has challenged the vendor community with this procurement. ‘The election marketplace is on notice that we will accept nothing less than a state-of-the-art, secure, accessible election system for Travis County voters,’ said County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir.” Responses to the new RFP are due Dec. 19, with the expectation that a new system will be in place for the 2020 presidential election.