Title
a. Approve and authorize the Contracts and Purchasing Officer or designee to execute a non-standard Agreement with KNOWiNK to lease 200 electronic poll books and provide software, maintenance, and support services in the period May 20, 2025 to May 20, 2027 for a total amount not to exceed $499,465; and
b. Approve and authorize the Contracts and Purchasing Officer or designee to sign up to two (2) future amendments of one (1) year each to this Agreement where amendments do not significantly alter the scope of work, and the cost of each amendment does not increase by more than 10% of the prior year’s cost, with an aggregate not to exceed amount of $622,889.
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Approve and authorize the Contracts and Purchasing Officer or designee to execute a non-standard Agreement with KNOWiNK to lease 200 electronic poll books and provide software, maintenance, and support services in the period May 20, 2025 to May 20, 2027 for a total amount not to exceed $499,465; and
b. Approve and authorize the Contracts and Purchasing Officer or designee to sign up to two (2) future amendments of one (1) year each to this Agreement where amendments do not significantly alter the scope of work, and the cost of each amendment does not increase by more than 10% of the prior year’s cost, with an aggregate not to exceed amount of $622,889.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
The Elections Department seeks to lease 200 electronic poll books (e-poll books) for use in voting locations throughout the County for hardware, software, maintenance and support services. The total estimated cost for this equipment lease and software Agreement for three years is $499,465, consisting of hardware, software, maintenance and support services. The amount for the first year will not exceed $376,765, the second year cost will not exceed $53,430 and third year cost is $53,430 for software support and maintenance.
The proposed software Agreement is “non-standard” for the County with respect to term provisions. It is the recommendation of the Registrar of Voters to approve the non-standard term conditions to conduct more efficient elections, enhance security, provide greater voting accessibility and improve administrative efficiencies for elections during the canvass period.
The Elections Department currently leases 20 electronic poll books which were deployed during the November 5, 2024 Presidential General Election. The locations selected to have electronic poll books were each centrally located to different regions of the County and served as centers for contingency operations in the event of an emergency. In addition, the placement of electronic poll books facilitated polling place operations in underserved areas of the County that would otherwise have been made mail ballot precincts as a result of redistricting. Overall, the transition to countywide implementation of electronic poll books will improve voter processing time, post-election processing due to the reduction of provisional ballots and automated voter history updates and enhance the security of the election.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
The Agreement has been reviewed and approved by the Auditor-Controller regarding fiscal provisions. The Agreement has been reviewed by County Counsel as to form, and by Risk Management as to the non-standard indemnity and insurance.
FINANCING:
The Elections Department FY 2024-25 budget contains sufficient appropriations for year one; funding for this agreement will be offset by election billing revenues and grant funding. There will be no additional cost to the County General Fund. Funding for this lease was incorporated into the budget for Fiscal Year 2025-26 and will be included in future years.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
This item is in line with the Board’s vision for providing efficient service and cost neutral administration.
Mark a check to the related Board of Supervisors Strategic Initiatives
__Economic Development
X Administration
__Health & Human Services
__Infrastructure
__Public Safety
Prepared by: Mary Kikuchi, Management Analyst II, Ext. 1491
Approved by: Gina Martinez, Registrar of Voters, Ext. 1499
Attachments:
Exhibit A - KNOWiNK Agreement