Yuba County approves upgrade to Dominion Democracy Suite 5.19, extends voting‑system contract

The Yuba County Board of Supervisors on Sept. 23 approved an amendment with Dominion Voting Systems to upgrade the county’s tally and adjudication system to Democracy Suite 5.19 and to refresh hardware used for elections.

Donna, Yuba County’s Clerk‑Recorder and Registrar of Voters, told the board the 5.19 package includes a software upgrade plus replacement servers, three central scanning workstations and 48 ballot‑printer units. “The 5.19 system includes a system upgrade and a hardware upgrade,” Donna said, adding the new printers will let the county print both QR‑based and traditional fill‑in‑bubble ballots at polling sites.

The county has remaining voting system replacement funds from the state. Donna said Yuba’s allocation includes $203,905 overall, with $173,359 eligible to cover the upgrade. She warned that even after board approval, Yuba may not be able to implement the system before June 2026 because counties are queued for statewide special‑election scheduling.

Board members focused questions on contract length and flexibility. Donna described the scope of the hardware replacement and the contract’s maintenance term, and said the new servers would remain visible to the public during tally operations. “We would absolutely not reduce visibility of the tally process at all,” she said.

Supervisor questions also touched on web accessibility and adjudication transparency. Donna said the upgrade improves the at‑a‑glance adjudication dashboard and makes printed reports more accessible to screen readers, but that the accessibility work does not change tally security.

The board approved the amendment by voice vote after a brief discussion. The county will finalize contract terms and pursue implementation timing consistent with the statewide deployment queue.