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Board extends contract with ES&S for voting services amid certification and funding concerns
Summary
After closed-session deliberations, the board approved a 17-month extension to the elections contract with Election Systems & Software (ES&S) for voting services and maintenance while staff pursue certification and broader solutions; supervisors cited certification risk and the possibility of hand counts if equipment is not recertified.
The Board of Supervisors on April 17 approved an extension of the Department of Elections contract with Election Systems & Software (ES&S) for voting services and maintenance for an up-to-17-month period while the city continues to pursue certification and longer-term options.
The matter, listed as Item 23, was discussed in closed session and the board voted afterward in open session to extend the contract. The extension followed months of public debate, a prior RFP process and a separate procurement discussion involving Sequoia Voting Systems. Director of Elections testimony and staff memos in the record noted that ES&S had received conditional certification for ranked-choice voting in a prior election only because the city had been in the middle of an RFP process at that time; the Secretary of State’s office warned that recertification is not certain. In the transcript the secretary of state’s letter is read into the record: “given the obsolete technical platform upon which the ES&S Eagle is based and the high rate of failure experienced with this older, well used equipment in your last election, it is far from certain that this equipment will be equipment will be recertified for use in any future election, should ES&S choose to seek recertification.”
Board members raised practical concerns. Supervisors asked whether federal HAVA funding (approximately $5 million identified in staff documents) would be available only if the city purchased new equipment, and whether the city could face the cost and operational impact of a full manual hand count if equipment were not recertified. Director of Elections Arntz (recorded in the file) told the board the department expects to have ES&S certified for November if ES&S seeks recertification, but said he could not guarantee certification for subsequent elections in the calendar year and acknowledged the risk of future decertification for later contests.
The extension by the board will preserve operating continuity for upcoming elections and give staff time to pursue certification, contest procurement decisions and, if necessary, plan for contingency measures. The transcript and committee material also note that an alternative contract with Sequoia had included a one-time capital build-out (Pier 48 consolidation) and an allocation of HAVA funds; board discussions noted the Sequoia award raised procurement and transparency questions that were unresolved by the budget committee.
The board adopted the ES&S extension by roll call after closed-session deliberations; the roll call in the public minutes shows the extension passed (the tally recorded in the transcript is 7 ayes and 2 noes in the later roll call as reflected in the clerk’s reading). The transcript records that supervisors asked the Elections Director to pursue recertification, to report back and to continue work on procurement alternatives while maintaining continuity for the immediate election cycle.
