He flat lied about the Election Management System! He conflated it with the state database/software and deflected away from the fact that it is a brand fricking new layer that will be:
- directly extracting data from the state database (including voter registration data)
- programming the voting machines
- creating the ballot files for print
- tallying the results and directly injecting into the state database.
It is not a replacement for what they have no matter how many times he says the infrastructure will remain the same. He also brags about state workers doing the programming... on the EMS.
The entire workflow is in one vendors hands. Waaaayyyy to much fuckery is available in this configuration!
You the man! Thanks for the lead, our local activism is just out of infancy and is leading into toddler threshold. Our initial report on this problem is now busted because it lit a fire and tons of new contacts were made. As such, new info came to light.
And an article about it on the pundit
This punk SOS is clearly on the take. $100m for this garbage.
And a nice little write-up about it from the Pundit
it really is nuts that the Secretary of State is doing this now, in this environment.
So I read the scope of work in the Request for Proposal from the Secretary of State's office and prepared a report with some concerns. We will be presenting this next Friday at the Senate/House Governmental Affairs Committee meeting.
TLDR:
• Statements of Secretary of State’s office would have the public thinking the scope is just to replace the aging AVC advantage machines and that the rest of the infrastructure and procedures would remain intact
• The scope of work in the RFP shows that this could be closer to a complete replacement of large segments of the existing infrastructure and procedures, thereby taking a large portion of the chain of custody out of the hands of humans and placing it in the control of a single vendor.
• If the scope in the RFP is unavoidable, we can still work with this. The state will have to show their work and make the paperwork from the vote on the front end readily available to the public. For in-person voting, the paperwork is the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs). For mail in tabulation, the paperwork is the ballots. The VVPATs and the ballot images created by the tabulators must be available for download on the SOS website along with the election results.
• With the scope being as it is, without readily accessible paperwork, there is little to nothing apparent that the state can do to comfort the public. Complaints and litigation would become a feature of nearly every election.
I read you loud and clear :)