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Commissioners approve sole-source purchase for in‑person voting equipment
Summary
The Appropriations Committee approved a sole‑source purchase request from the Supervisor of Elections to replace day-of-voting equipment with ES&S DS300 units, citing state law and certification limits as justification.
The Miami‑Dade County Appropriations Committee voted to approve a sole‑source purchase for in‑person voting equipment from ES&S after the Supervisor of Elections’ office told the committee state rules and certification constraints leave the county with only one practical vendor for the day‑of‑voting machines.
Orrin Rosenthal, general counsel for the Miami‑Dade County Supervisor of Elections, said the county has used ES&S systems in its day‑of‑voting equipment since 2007 and that the county is replacing only the in‑person voting devices. Rosenthal told the committee that ‘‘state law requires the board to certify there's but 1 vendor who can provide this for the county’’ and that only two systems in the state have current certification, making ES&S the only practical choice without replacing the entire election technology stack.
The item was presented as a sole‑source purchase because the county would not be able to operate two different in‑person voting systems simultaneously, Rosenthal said, and the change preserves the county’s ability to reuse compatible components such as modems.
The committee took up item 3E and, after discussion, Commissioner Gonzales moved the item and Commissioner Steinberg seconded. The committee approved the request by voice vote; the clerk recorded the item as carried.
Ending: Committee members congratulated the Supervisor of Elections’ office on securing equipment replacements and approved the sole‑source certification, while noting the decision was grounded in state certification rules and operational compatibility.
