Council approves Hart InterCivic voting equipment, tables decision on ballot‑image software

The City of La Porte heard demonstrations and vendor remarks Sept. 9 before approving staff’s recommendation to purchase Hart InterCivic voting equipment that produces a voter-verifiable paper trail, meeting a Texas legislative mandate for a paper trail in future elections. A Hart InterCivic representative described the company’s long history in election technology and showed examples used in larger counties.

Staff told council the purchase is part of a BuyBoard contract and that the La Porte‑Port Arthur Independent School District (LPISD) reviewed the procurement and typically shares roughly half the cost for election equipment. Staff noted the Hart equipment supplies ballot images that must be managed under public‑information rules; the city expects to host results and associated records on its website.

Council then discussed optional software (referred to in the packet as Seveira/Savara) that would produce ballot images, graphics and an online redaction tool to remove personally identifying marks on ballots prior to publication. Supporters said the software would increase transparency and provide a modern, searchable interface for historical records; others cautioned the purchase is optional, that not many Texas cities currently use it, and that staff did not provide a formal recommendation to adopt it at this meeting. Miss Williams moved to table the Savara/Seveira software for further study; Councilman Englekin seconded and the motion carried.

Outcome: the council approved procurement of the Hart InterCivic equipment (motion carried) and tabled further consideration of the ballot-image/analytics software for additional review and research.