Sacramento County has released an RFP for a comprehensive new voting system designed specifically for its county elections. The RFP was issued July 14.
Since 2002, constituents have been able to be permanent voters by mail (VBM), meaning ballots are sent directly to their homes every year. In 2016, voters using VBM accounted for 67.6 percent of votes cast in the primaries and 68.1 percent in the general elections, up from 4.5 percent and 33.8 percent, respectively.
According to Sacramento County’s website, the new voting system will have 77 vote centers replacing the polling places and 54 dropoff sites for ballots. Additionally, voters won’t be assigned to a specific polling place and can use any vote center.
The RFP calls for a system able to handle the conversion to vote centers, one that's capable of efficiently processing ballots cast by the county's 780,000 voters, focusing on security, integration, customization, date conversion, training, documentation and project management.
The project is expected to cost the county about $8.8 million over an eight-year lease. It should be fully operational by June 2018.
Proposals are due by Aug. 28. Call (916) 876-6360 for more information, or go to the website.
Under the new system, all registered voters will receive a ballot in the mail and may drop them off at any site beginning 29 days before an election if they want to.
Sixteen vote centers will open 10 days before Election Day, with the remaining 61 opening three days before, to give voters as much access as possible.
“Sacramento County will be the first large county in California to transition from the traditional polling-place approach to vote centers,” Rami Zakaria, Sacramento County CIO, told Techwire via email.
