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Election office to end VOTEC contract; court authorizes termination and keeps Clarity Connect reporting contract
Summary
Rockwall County Commissioners authorized the county elections administrator to terminate the voter-registration contract with VOTEC and approved a renewal amendment with SOE (Clarity Connect) for election-night reporting and training. The court also approved a slate of election judges for upcoming elections.
The Rockwall County Commissioners Court on Aug. 26 authorized Elections Administrator Chris Lynch to terminate the county’s agreement with VOTEC and to sign a termination letter in accordance with the contract’s notice provisions.
Lynch told the court he had determined, with advice from county counsel, that continuing the county’s relationship with VOTEC (a third-party voter-registration vendor) posed an unacceptable risk because the company had become “volatile” and the Secretary of State provides comparable services at no charge. Lynch said the county would reclaim $54,000 scheduled as a January payment to VOTEC and acknowledged the county will assume operational risk in the near term — including less than 60 days before a local election — while transitioning off VOTEC.
The court passed a motion authorizing Lynch to sign the termination letter and complete the contract closeout; the motion passed unanimously.
Separately, the court approved an extension amendment with SOE (Clarity Connect) for the county’s election-night reporting, training and website publishing services. Lynch said the county relies on SOE/Clarity Connect to display election-night results and that technical redundancies exist so the elections office could publish results internally if needed. The court approved the SOE extension amendment by unanimous vote.
The court also accepted a list of proposed election judges for the November, March and May elections; the court approved the slate unanimously. Lynch explained the roles of the ballot board and central-count teams for mail ballots and tabulation on election night.
No litigation or contract amounts were changed on the SOE extension at the Aug. 26 meeting; the VOTEC termination will require a written 30-day notice under the contract and a short operational transition period ahead of the next election.
