King County planning to buy mail-in voting software from a company that no longer exists.

[eridani]

Cross-posted to Election Reform

http://www.washblog.com/story/2007/10/1/7633/59756

According to the expert review commissioned by the King County Council, King County can achieve the goals that the VoteHere MiBT is designed for with a simple web form that can be created in-house (4). Is it possible that this technology, which would cost millions of dollars over the years, is simply unnecessary? I don't see indication that there has been serious consideration by REALS of this statement by the independent reviewers that the MiBT is not needed.

The product also appears to be a risky proposition. According to an article in the Olympian, Ballot Tracker in Fiscal Pinch, Washington's legislature had decided against allocating $3.5 million for ballot tracking last session, due, in part, to concerns that some legislators had about that technology. (5) Among other considerations, San Juan County in Washington State is currently being sued in relation to its use of that technology. The plaintiffs provide evidence that the technology performed very poorly. (6)


http://www.washblog.com/story/2007/10/1/72055/6279

A Message to the King County Council from Reverend DeForest Soaries, Jr.

Dear King County Council Members:

"I was pleased to convene a group of election officials to evaluate the proposition that vote-by-mail required an upgrade to the election technology used in King County. The assembled team includes people with the right background to evaluate the need for an upgrade. To be very clear, our team was unanimous: There is no need to upgrade.

"When election officials were interviewed about the risks associated with combination of moving to vote-by-mail, moving to a new, untried, tabulation system, no one thought it was a wise choice to do all of these in the run up to a presidential election. Not one election official was comfortable with this direction.

"I urge you to heed the warning from these election officials: There is no upside, no advantage, to moving ahead with acquisition a new tabulation system and the risks are considerable."