Fulton County rejects absentee‑ballot printing bid after debate over local vendor preference; commissioners direct rebid

Fulton County commissioners unanimously voted on April 16 to reject all bids for the county’s absentee ballot printing contract after public comment, departmental staff and several commissioners raised concerns about awarding the work to an out‑of‑state vendor rather than a local company.

Why it matters: The county’s Elections Division is preparing for the June elections and asked for a contract to print absentee ballots and related materials. Commissioners and public commenters said awarding the contract to a vendor based in Albany, New York, raised chain‑of‑custody, turnaround and local vendor‑preference concerns.

What happened in the meeting: The county’s chief procurement officer, Felicia Strong Whitaker, explained the solicitation was a low‑bid procurement and that the advertised specifications did not require a local firm. Elections staff said the recommended low bidder, Fort Orange Press, had experience printing ballots for other jurisdictions. Several commissioners and public commenters urged the county to rebid to favor a vendor with a local presence and faster physical delivery options.

Purchasing and elections offices: Whitaker said the procurement rules required awarding to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder unless the solicitation contained a local‑preference requirement; the published solicitation did not. Elections staff advised there could be timing pressure to re‑solicit but confirmed the county could run a new solicitation and try to accelerate the procurement schedule. One commissioner noted that some independent absentee operations need four physical deliveries and that using a local vendor could reduce potential chain‑of‑custody touch points.

Board action: After discussion the board voted 6–0 to reject all bids and directed purchasing to resolicit the ballot printing contract with expedited timing so that a new award could be returned to the board in time to meet June election production needs.

Ending: Purchasing said it would resolicit and accommodate department requests about delivery or local‑presence requirements if those specifications are permitted under procurement law; Elections staff said they would work with purchasing to expedite the new solicitation and provide recommended language on preferred logistics and contingency handling.