ES&S Designated As State Of Utah Vendor Of Choice

OMAHA, Neb., Nov. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Election Systems & Software (ES&S) is honored to announce that the State of Utah has designated ES&S as the state's election management vendor of choice. After a comprehensive assessment of five different election systems vendors, it is the official opinion of the State of Utah Voting Systems Evaluation Committee that the award of a contract to ES&S provides the best value to the State.

"Through a careful and thorough procurement process, the state of Utah has chosen ES&S to lead Utah into the next generation of voting equipment," said Utah Lieutenant Governor, Spencer J. Cox. "ES&S offers a wide range of voting equipment options and I'm confident their secure and innovative election solutions will fit the needs of each county."

The Evaluation Committee, comprised of representatives from the Lieutenant Governor's Office, various counties across the State of Utah, and a representative for Voters with Disabilities, evaluated proposals from five different vendors in accordance with Part 7 of the Utah Procurement Code.

Through their extensive assessments, the State Evaluation Committee determined:

• The ES&S Election Management System provides a more efficient and intuitive process for ballot layout and design, as well as import and export capabilities that facilitate the exchange of data between Utah's statewide voter registration database (VISTA) and the proposed EMS.
• ES&S provides a tabulation solution for every Utah county, including those that have adopted a full vote by mail process. ES&S provides various options for scanning and tabulating paper ballots for counties with varying numbers of registered voters. ES&S' high-speed tabulators will reduce ballot processing time and provide a more efficient process for adjudicating ballots that cannot immediately be scanned (blank ballots, write-ins, ballots where a voter has marked more than the acceptable number of candidates, or ballots that are otherwise unreadable by the scanners).
• The ES&S accessible voting solution combines paper-based voting with touch-screen technology to meet the needs of voters with disabilities as well as provide a permanent paper record, as required by Utah statute.
• ES&S is a well-established company with a good reputation amongst election officials throughout the country and is the best positioned to be able to support a roll-out of new equipment in multiple counties in Utah simultaneously. The company has supported multiple statewide implementations of new voting equipment in the past and nationwide. ES&S provides support and maintenance plans at different levels of service and price points so that counties can select the option that best meets their individual needs.

During the evaluation process, vendors were asked to participate in a public demonstration of their proposed voting system solutions. The follow up survey results revealed that the public felt the ES&S equipment was easy to use and that they had confidence in casting their votes on the proposed system.

"We are very excited and honored to partner with the State of Utah," said ES&S President & CEO, Tom Burt. "We take great pride in providing high-quality products and services to maintain voter confidence and enhance the voting experience. We look forward to a successful and long-term partnership with the Utah election community."

ABOUT ES&S: Election Systems & Software's visionary approach to election equipment, software and solutions has helped improve the voting experience throughout North America for nearly 40 years. We are committed to developing integrated voting solutions that improve the marketplace and are flexible enough to meet multiple jurisdictions' needs and voter preferences. Learn more about ES&S at www.essvote.com and on Facebook at facebook.com/essvote.                                               

SOURCE Election Systems & Software

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