HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 16 - Voting SystemMEMOTO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: BRUNO RUMBELOW, CITY MANAGER
MEETING DATE: SEPTEMBER 17, 2019
SUBJECT: APPROVAL OF NEW VOTING SYSTEM
RECOMMENDATION: City Council to consider the adoption of Hart Intercivic Verity Voting
System version 2.3.1 as the voting system for municipal elections.
FUNDING SOURCE: The City will contract with Tarrant County for election services. Tarrant
County owns the voting equipment.
BACKGROUND: On August 27, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court adopted the Hart
Intercivic Verity, version 2.3.1 as the voting system to be used for all
elections run by the County. Section 123.001 of the Texas Elections
Code requires that before a voting system can be used, it must be
adopted by the election authority for each government entity.
The new system is a hybrid electronic paper system that will be used for
Absentee Voting by Mail, Early Voting by Personal Appearance, Election
Day regular voting and provisional voting.
Tarrant County is planning on using the new system starting with the
November state elections.
WQ
Dear Tarrant County Voter:
Starting in November 2019 you will vote using the Hart Intercivic Verity Voting System, a hybrid
system that provides a paper trail for every voter, combined with the latest advancement in digital
security. Allow me to recap how we got here.
On September 18, 2018, the Commissioners Court was briefed on the types of voting equipment
available on the market. After a lengthy discussion, the court expressed the preference to find a
solution that provided a paper trail for the voter to review, and to serve as an added layer of security
and redundancy for audits. The Elections Department then set itself on a mission to find the best option
available, and published an RFP inviting vendors to offer "Hybrid" technology solution.
A Hybrid voting system is one where the voter makes the selection on a digital terminal - a.k.a. DRE
machine - but unlike the traditional DRE, these terminals do not record the voter's selections. Instead,
those choices are printed on a paper ballot for the voter to review and confirm. once the voter is
satisfied with the contents of the printed ballot, the ballot is inserted into a separate machine - an
optical scanner - that counts the ballot and then deposits it in the ballot box.
On August 13, 2019, Tarrant County selected HART Intercivic to replace our old voting technology
with their brand new Hybrid System. Here are some of the reasons we chose this technology:
It provides a paper trail. From the beginning, we knew we wanted to ensure that voters would have
the possibility of confirming their selections before they were recorded. Early Voters will now also have
a paper ballot to verify; there will no longer be different voting experiences between early and election -
day voting.
It is digitally secure. This system incorporates the latest information security techniques and tools,
on both the hardware and software levels. As required by law, it has been tested and certified by both
the Federal Government (Elections Assistance commission) and the Texas Secretary of State.
It eliminates voter interpretation. Unlike the old hand -marked ballots, you will never have to
wonder again if the scanner read your mark correctly. Except for absentee by mail voters,
every voter in the County can now rest assured that if they read John Doe on their ballot, then
it will be counted as a vote for John Doe. The days of ovals mismarked or names circled that
only come up during a recount (if someone paid for one) are over.
It is accessible. With this new technology, voters with disabilities have the exact same experience
every other voter has. There is no more "waiting for the ❑AU machine to be available", because every
voting machine at the location is now an accessible device. Voters will also be pleased to see they
can tailor their experience - like changing the language on screen or the size of the text - without any
help from the poll workers.
We are sure you will be as thrilled as we are when you vote in the next election. As always, if you have
questions about our voting system or would like to find out more about becoming a poll worker, please
call the Elections office at 817-831-VOTE (8683).
Sincerely,
Heider Garcia
Tarrant county Elections Administrator