Election Systems & Software, LLC (ES&S) announced December 23 that the company has inked a $28.14 million contract with the State of Maryland to replace the state’s existing touch-screen voting system with an innovative and secure paper ballot scanning and vote tabulation system.
After a detailed and thorough procurement process, the Maryland State Board of Elections‘ evaluation committee selected ES&S’ state-of-the-art DS200® in-precinct digital scanner, DS850® high-speed digital central tabulator and the ExpressVote® Universal Voting System. This entire voting solution is operated by Electionware®, the election industry’s powerful new election management software.
The new voting technology is scheduled to be implemented in time for the 2016 presidential election cycle.
“We are honored to have been selected by the State of Maryland to implement this new wave of voting technology,” said Tom Burt, President and CEO of ES&S.
“Maryland selected a system that will provide the state’s voters with a voting platform that can be sustained for many years. Our DS200, DS850, ExpressVote and Electionware suite is designed to provide for today’s needs while allowing for flexibility to meet future technology trends.”
The evaluation committee ranked the voting system solution proposed by ES&S first technically, then financially. The committee deemed that the ES&S proposal featured the best system in these categories:
- Easiest transition for Maryland voters from the current system to a paper-based solution.
- Significant reduction in estimated paper ballot costs due to the innovative ExpressVote technology.
- The accessibility features and functionality for voters with disabilities based on an independent usability review conducted by the University of Baltimore.
- The outstanding capabilities of the high-speed DS850 scanner and tabulator for absentee and provisional ballot processing.
Maryland purchased 3,108 DS200 ballot scanning and vote tabulation devices for counting votes in polling places. In addition, 11 DS850 machines will process mailed-in and provisional ballots. Also, 2,731 ExpressVote Universal Voting System touch-screen devices will be used by voters during early voting periods and to serve as devices for voters with disabilities. The ExpressVote has been certified under guidelines of the U.S. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).