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Ellis County delays contracts for voter-registration and e-pollbook services, seeks more options
Summary
Ellis County Commissioners Court took no action on three items to contract with VR Systems Inc. after Elections Administrator Jana Onion said vendor support for the county’s legacy system was disrupted and additional vendors may be available; the court asked staff to return with options on Sept. 2.
Ellis County Commissioners Court on a special meeting agreed to take no action this week on three agenda items that would have executed contracts with VR Systems Inc. for voter-registration and e-pollbook services, after Elections Administrator Jana Onion told the court the county needed more time to review alternatives.
Onion said the county was notified in August that its previous vendor, VOTECH, had effectively ceased support after many employees resigned or were laid off, creating an urgent need to replace or supplement the county’s voter-registration and e-pollbook software. “I would like to ask the court to no action these 3 items and that we will bring it back next Tuesday, September 2 after further review,” Onion said.
The three items on the agenda were listed as: (1) an EVID system sale and license agreement and software for 100 e-poll books under a Texas Association of School Boards cooperative contract number 710-23 in the amount of $199,590; (2) a VR Systems voter-focus system license and maintenance agreement under the same cooperative contract for $264,624; and (3) an EVID system hardware repair and maintenance agreement for the e-poll books at $8,700 per year beginning in year two. Commissioners agreed to take no action on each item and move them to the court’s next meeting.
Onion told the court the county maintains its voter registration data in-house and that the data remain secure. She also said that while counties in Texas can choose to operate on the state-provided TEAM (Texas Election Administration Management) system, the county had previously relied on offline vendors and that VR Systems had been the only readily identified offline option until she located additional possibilities during recent training.
Presiding remarks at the meeting thanked Onion for rapidly researching alternatives and noted the short timeline ahead of the November constitutional amendment election. County Clerk Crystal Valdez was identified as the contact for public-comment forms, though no public commenters spoke on these agenda items at the special meeting.
By taking no action, the court left open multiple procurement paths and directed staff to return with additional vendor information on Sept. 2. Because no contract decisions were made, the court said the potential executive session related to these matters was not needed at this time.
The three agenda items will be brought back for formal consideration and, if the court moves forward, would involve executing the cited cooperative-contract purchases or other procurement options the county identifies.
