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Elections Department recommending the Board:
1) Approve and authorize the Board Chair to sign contract 4081 with Runbeck Election Systems for the purchase of a new inbound envelope/ballot sorting system for an amount not to exceed $317,491, including system purchase of $227,491 in year one, plus associated annual maintenance and support of $30,000 per year starting in year two, for the four year term July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2023;
2) Approve and authorize the addition of the envelope/ballot sorting system to the Fixed Asset list for the FY 2019-20 Board approved Recommended Budget; and
3) Approve and authorize the Purchasing Agent, or designee, to execute further documents relating to contract 4081, including amendments that do not increase the maximum dollar amount or term of the Agreement, and contingent upon approval by County Counsel and Risk Management.
FUNDING: Funding to be provided in this order, and will likely be a combination of: State Prop 41 Bonds for Modern Voting Equipment, Federal HAVA 301 Funds, State AB1824 Funds with up to 50% General Fund match.
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DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The County of El Dorado Elections Department is responsible for running transparent, open, thorough, and accurate elections for the voters of El Dorado County. A critical component of this responsibility is the efficient, thorough, and auditable receipt of mail ballots from voters.
The department currently mails approximately 98,000 ballots to voters. With the move to vote centers, approved by the board on April 23, 2019, all registered voters in the County will be mailed a ballot, which is expected to be close to 124,000 in 2020. The expected return for the Presidential General Election is 75% which would mean approximately 80,600 ballots returned by mail and the remainder at Vote Centers.
The current process in the department is to manually receive, count, batch, pull envelopes with missing signatures or from a prior election, and signature check each en...
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