Louisiana slowed its work to replace its decade-old voting machines and overhauled a team that’s evaluating vendor proposals after a company vying for the contract accused the secretary of state’s office of trying to rig the deal for a competitor.
The complaint temporarily stalled the effort to find a voting machine contractor, pushing back a selection that had been expected to be announced in June.
After the complaint was filed, the state office overseeing the contractor selection scrapped the original evaluation committee and removed Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin from it, according to documents reviewed by The Associated Press.
Ardoin said he was involved in revamping the evaluation team and addressing the complaint. He said the reworked selection process will be “good, fair and equitable for the people of Louisiana.”
However, Jacques Berry, a spokesman for the state procurement office, said the reworking of the evaluation committee was the office director’s “decision unilaterally.”
The company that raised the bid-rigging allegations, Election Systems and Software, didn’t say whether the changes have addressed all of its concerns. Three companies bid for the work: Dominion Voting Systems, Hart InterCivic and Election Systems and Software.
Louisiana last purchased voting equipment in 2005. The secretary of state’s office is shopping to replace existing bulky machines with smaller, touch-screen-style equipment, improved technology and a paper trail. The project is expected to cost up to $60 million, with nearly 10,000 machines slated to be replaced by 2020.
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Louisiana voting machine contract award criticized, slowed
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