L.A. County Registrar Notes Big Opportunities for Vendors

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/Clerk’s Office has some big election-related projects in the works and more on the horizon. The department’s needs are varied: cybersecurity, staffing for tech jobs, managed network services and testing — plenty of testing.

“The need is there,” said Chief Information Officer Aman Bhullar. “We need help. The vendors are there who can help, and there’s a lot of opportunity for vendors … short-, medium- and long-term.”

The department is working on Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP), an initiative designed to expand voter access while strengthening ballot security and transitioning from traditional local precincts to regional voting centers. To that end, Bhullar’s department is working on these short- to medium-term priorities:

• Managed network services
• Tech and non-tech staffing
• Information security projects including strengthening NIST-based (National Institute of Standards and Technology) security controls; white hat/penetration testing; and DDoS testing
• A hosting strategy for public-facing assets.

“We are in the middle of a large voting system rollout,” Bhullar said. “In March 2020, we are going live with VSAP. … There’s lots of moving pieces. We want to make sure VSAP goes live without any hitches.”

In the long term, the department’s post-2020 initiatives include:

• Recorder archive repository
• Long-term microfilm-to-digital strategy
• Sentiment analysis and machine learning
• Query wait time at voter centers
• Expansion of the data analysis program
• Project management and analysis as part of a unified delivery methodology

The technology that makes elections work incurs high stakes, Bhullar explained. Projects must be done by deadlines — elections can’t be postponed. His office has been working with the technical staff in the office of California Secretary of State Alex Padilla on voter registration and security.

“We work with his office quite a bit,” said Bhullar, one of the presenters at a Los Angeles County vendor forum earlier this month. “In fact, Secretary Padilla is a Los Angeles County voter.

“2019 is the year of information security for us. There’s a huge focus on information security. There’s nervousness, but we’re getting more and more prepared as the (VSAP rollout) day nears.”

Bhullar noted that his presentation to vendors had the desired result.

“I was immediately approached by some specialized companies — security companies, managed network services. … There was a lot of traction at the event when I started talking about security.”

Those interested in doing business with Bhullar's department should "read up," he said, on the department's operations and needs, which solicitations are pending, and which ones are just over the horizon. Bhullar said he prefers to be contacted by email.