County Clerk recommends extending Dominion voting contract; supervisors approve 6‑year extension and annual licensing increase
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
The County Clerk asked supervisors to extend the Dominion Voting Systems contract through February 2033, including a 2026 licensing/warranty increase and budget amendment; supervisors approved the amendment with a roll‑call vote and the clerk stressed election security practices and in‑house controls.
Placer County’s Clerk‑Recorder, Ryan Ronco, asked the Board of Supervisors to approve a six‑year extension to the county’s contract with Dominion Voting Systems to allow purchase of additional hardware and continued licensing and warranty services through Feb. 28, 2033. The board approved the amendment on Oct. 7.
Ronco told supervisors the contract extension would allow procurement of additional approved voting hardware and cover licensing and warranty obligations; staff requested authority to increase 2025‑26 licensing and warranty obligations and to amend the clerk‑recorder budget for $51,756 of additional licensing costs for the coming fiscal year. Ronco addressed public concerns about Dominion systems, noting that California law requires the use of a Secretary of State‑approved voting system (Dominion, ES&S or Hart InterCivic) and described the county’s safeguards: ballots are countable paper ballots, county staff create ballots in‑house, county IT staff perform pre/post election testing, central count servers are hosted locally, and voting machines are air‑gapped from the internet.
Supervisors asked questions about the duration of annual warranties and whether longer multi‑year contracts could be negotiated; Ronco said the industry standard has largely been one‑year license/warranty periods and the county would revisit contract terms in future procurements. Supervisor Landon volunteered that she and other local officials had participated in poll‑worker training and urged residents to volunteer; Ronco echoed that earlier and invited residents to tour the elections facility.
The board approved the contract amendment and the requested budget amendment in a roll‑call vote. Ronco said the clerk’s office will continue outreach, maintain local custody of ballots and election infrastructure, and update the board on any major contract changes or technology procurements ahead of future elections.