Chelan County Debuts New Voting Technology in Washington

WENATCHEE, Wash., Dec. 15, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- As counties across the nation consider replacing aging voting systems with a major election year ahead, one Washington County took the lead by upgrading to the newest fully integrated election system certified in the nation, Verity Voting by Hart InterCivic. Chelan County officials are confident in their choice and timing. Neighboring Douglas County followed Chelan County's lead, purchasing Verity for implementation in early 2016.

"Looking ahead to the presidential election in 2016, we wanted to bring in new technology and take it out for a run during 2015," said Skip Moore, Chelan County Auditor. "Our smooth November 3 election showed that Verity was the right choice for our upgrade."

Verity proved itself to Chelan County officials before they embraced the new technology. Moore's office was tapped to help the Secretary of State test the system for Washington, which requires State as well as federal certification.

"I was very confident in the quality of Verity, having gone through the State certification process," Moore said. "Plus, we've worked with Hart before, and we are sold on Hart's customer support."

Chelan County, with 40,000 registered voters, was one of 10 jurisdictions across the nation to use the newly certified Verity system for November 3 general elections.

"Based on our years of experience working with Chelan County and 25 other Washington counties, we expect numerous other Washington counties will follow Chelan County's lead in adopting Verity," said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic. "The system incorporates the latest state-of-the-art technology, with a foundation based on the proven, robust legacy of our first-generation system that these jurisdictions have been successfully using for nearly a decade."

The new Verity system is a suite of software and hardware designed from the ground up with input from Chelan County and other Washington customers to incorporate the State's specific needs into the system. The modular design is flexible enough to leverage new technologies over time.

For voters in Chelan County, the transition was easy because the new ballots look the same, Moore said. Voting for the visually impaired or disabled was enhanced with the Verity Touch Writer, an accessible device voters use to mark and print their ballots to be counted along with all others.

"With Verity, we now have a paper ballot for every vote. I can assure the voting public that our results are verified. In close votes, I can point to two stacks of ballots right here on my desk," Moore said.

For election staff and other stakeholders, the biggest improvement is the state-of-the-art ballot tally solution, a streamlined and time-saving scanning process.

"Yes, this system is economical and efficient, but most importantly, our voters can be sure that the count is true and accurate," said auditor Moore. "Hart made the transition easy, and we are excited and confident as we look ahead to a busy election year."

For more information on the Verity Voting system, please visit www.hartintercivic.com/verityoverview.

About Hart InterCivic, Inc. 
Austin-based Hart InterCivic is a full service election solutions innovator, partnering with state and local governments to deliver secure, accurate and reliable elections. Working side by side with election professionals for more than 100 years, our mission is to help advance democracy one election at a time. This mission fuels our passionate customer focus and our continuous drive for technological innovation. Hart's voting solutions make voting more straightforward, more equitable and more accessible—and make managing elections more transparent, more efficient and easier.

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SOURCE Hart InterCivic

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