County to consider renewing Runbeck agreement for Agilis ballot sorter amid a rate increase

Elections staff briefed commissioners on a proposed four-year renewal with Runbeck Election Services for maintenance and support of the Agilis ballot sorter and supporting software. The county owns the sorter; the agreement covers annual maintenance visits, testing, remote support during elections and software services, staff said. "We bought the machine, and this is for maintenance costs," an elections staff member stated.

Staff described what the sorter does and how it fits into the election process: the sorter processes incoming envelopes from mail and drop boxes, identifies ballots for the current election, separates suspended or out-of-precinct ballots for research, and takes a snapshot of signatures on envelopes to support signature verification. The staff member explained two processing "paths": an initial pass that filters out suspended or wrong-election ballots and a second pass that codes no-signature or signature-mismatch envelopes so that notice letters can be mailed.

After sorting, ballots proceed to opening boards and then to optical scanners for tabulation. Staff explained the quality-control workflow in which pairs of staff review scanned ballot images and a second team reviews any ballots where staff made intent determinations. "Nothing is actually counted and tabulated until 08:00 on election night," staff said; before that time, opening and review processes occur to ensure accuracy.

On costs, staff said the new Runbeck agreement begins at $32,551 for the first year and then increases by roughly 5% annually. Staff noted that the previous contract had been flat and that the first-year increase represents a catch-up of several years, which one commissioner characterized as an effective 25% jump compared with the prior arrangement. Commissioners asked whether other vendors support Agilis and whether alternative arrangements exist; staff said the county originally piggybacked on another county's contract when acquiring Runbeck services and that competing options are limited for the Agilis platform. The agreement will be placed on the regular meeting agenda for approval.