Montgomery Co. Eyes Purchasing New Voting System

The eSlate machines (left) have been in use for 15 years, and could soon be replaced with a touchscreen/paper hybrid system (right).Hart InterCivic

By: Jessica Shorten

CONROE, TX – After a record-setting election turnout year which brought fresh scrutiny over ballot protections, Montgomery County is eyeing the purchase of a new election system before the 2022 midterm season.

“Our voting system was originally purchased in 2005, and in that particular system, the only units that are available for purchase anymore are used, the only parts available for repairs, which are needed pretty frequently, are also used; and all of it is in a limited supply,” said Elections Administrator Suzie Harvey to the Montgomery County Commissioners’ Court.

The 15-year-old electronic voting eSlate system used by Montgomery County was originally purchased from Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company. The system utilizes a selector button which allows a voter to toggle through their ballot and select candidates; electronically tallying their vote in the machine and leaving no paper trail. However, the machines have reached their end-of life and may not be able to hold up under another election cycle with heavy voter participation.

“As it stands now, we were spread very thin for the November [2020] elections as far as equipment, especially when we added the early voting locations that we needed; and that spread our standby equipment even further on short supply,” cautioned Harvey. “We are just at our bare bones right now for another full-scale election like [November, 2020].”

In order to fully replace the current election system, Montgomery County would need to purchase 1,900 new election machines and integrate them into an updated database for tabulation. Based on estimated costs provided by Harvey to the Court, the project could cost between $8.5 and $9 million; and that is only if the County went with Hart InterCivic’s new Verity system, which would be able to easily convert the old equipment with the new.

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Only one other unnamed company has been considered as a replacement for the current election system. However, there are no firm numbers regarding a cost for a total replacement.

Utilizing newer Hart InterCivic Verity machines and voting system certainly has an incentive for Montgomery County: time. With the 2022 election season only a few months away, a change in the election system must be done as quickly and efficiently as possible to not only make sure the system is operational, but to provide necessary training on the new machines.

According to Harvey, the new InterCivic Verity units are paper based and use a touchscreen system which allow a voter to record their vote, print their completed ballot, and then scan it into a tabulation system.

Paper-based ballots will require an audited hand count of ballots after an election but have been a desired item for ballot security. While individuals will not be able to walk out of a voting location with their ballot, their ballot will be audited by hand.

While time is of the essence in getting a new elections system functional before the 2022 election cycle, Commissioners were also cautious about simply purchasing a new system even with their current vendor without further details and pricing from other possible options. No actions were taken by the court Tuesday, but direction was given to Harvey and the Purchasing department to dig deeper into a search for a new voting machines and election system.