Voting System RFP Best Practices and Michigan s Recent Experience with Statewide RFP 2016 State Certification Testing of Voting Systems National Conference Tim Hanson & David Tarrant Michigan Bureau of Elections
Presentation Overview Overview of Statewide RFPs and Contract Management: Best Practices paper from 2015 Michigan s experience with recent RFP Bid solicitation for Statewide Voting Equipment State Voting System Certification as part of Michigan RFP
Michigan RFP Experience 2004 Voting Systems RFP 2006 Accessible Voting Systems RFP 2011 Extended Service, Maintenance and Warranty: Voting System Hardware, Firmware, and Software 2013 Elections Technology Consultant RFP 2015 Voting System Hardware, Firmware, Software and Service RFP 2016 Voting System Hardware, Firmware, Software and Service RFP
Reasons for RFP Not sure about all the options available-consider an RFI Project/Task requires that Vendors and Subcontractors provided turnkey system Complete System Hardware, Software as well as warranty and support Consistency Statewide Equipment Pricing You want to leverage your buying power
Best Practices Getting Started Know your Timeframe Getting the right players involved Basic Templates as a starting point with common structure Clearly define the solution you are seeking Select the RFP Team Structure (JEC) Get to know your State Purchasing Feedback from User Community/Specialty Groups
Best Practices - Continued Michigan Approach Steering Committee Subcommittees Hardware Software Absentee/Accessible Voting Legislative Data Model/EMS If possible, include members of specialty groups such as Disability or Advocacy Groups
Best Practices - Conclusion Conduct the Evaluation (Explained in greater detail in next section) Make sure bids are responsive to the basic RFP requirements Hands on Demonstration of both Hardware and Software Use real election data in system tests Final Recommendations Learn from your experience Don t hire a vendor to write RFP - Vendors will write the bid, but you still have to do much of the work and will pay a lot Enhanced Voting System RFP Repository Requirements should be complete and clear Consider an RFI
Counties in Michigan Alcona County Alger County Allegan County Alpena County Antrim County Arenac County Baraga County Barry County Bay County Benzie County Berrien County Branch County Calhoun County Cass County Charlevoix County Cheboygan County Chippewa County Clare County Clinton County Crawford County Delta County Dickinson County Eaton County Emmet County Genesee County Gladwin County Gogebic County Grand Traverse County Gratiot County Hillsdale County Houghton County Huron County Ingham County Ionia County Iosco County Iron County Isabella County Jackson County Kalamazoo County Kalkaska County Kent County Keweenaw County Lake County Lapeer County Leelanau County Lenawee County Livingston County Luce County Mackinac County Macomb County Manistee County Marquette County Mason County Mecosta County Menominee County Midland County Missaukee County Monroe County Montcalm County Montmorency County Muskegon County Newaygo County Oakland County Oceana County Ogemaw County Ontonagon County Osceola County Oscoda County Otsego County Ottawa County Presque Isle County Roscommon County Saginaw County St. Clair County St. Joseph County Sanilac County Schoolcraft County Shiawassee County Tuscola County Van Buren County Washtenaw County Wayne County Wexford County Jurisdictions in Michigan
Michigan s RFP Bid Why Michigan did a Statewide Bid 83 Counties 1,520 Jurisdictions 4,810 Precincts Benefits of sharing bid information Maryland Bid Hennepin County, MN Bid Decentralized nature of Michigan Large Counties vs Small Counties Rural vs Urban Some Counties very self-sufficient and some very much rely on vendors County size comparison Wayne County 999 precincts Luce County 4 precincts
Michigan s RFP Bid - Structure JEC Joint Evaluation Committee Structure Department of Technology Management and Budget (DTMB) Purchasing Buyer Voting and Non-Voting JEC Members BOE Representatives (Administrative, Legal and SMEs) County and Local Representatives MDOS Purchasing
Bid Steps Qualifying Vendors Certifying Voting Systems Price Negotiations County Selection Grant Process Rollout/Training Funding Model Some HAVA State Appropriation Local Source County, City/Twp Contribution
Step 1 Mandatory Minimum Requirements State Voting System Certification Application EAC Certification Status Special State Requirements EAC Certification Timelines
Step 2 Technical Evaluation Criteria Technical Requirements 50 Points Service and Maintenance Requirements 25 Points Staffing, Experience and Performance 10 Points Rollout Plan and Training Requirements 15 Points 100 Points Total Need 80 or more to advance Step 3 State Certification Testing PASS/FAIL for proposals receiving 80 or more technical evaluation points
Lessons learned from 2015 RFP Things to do differently Write an RFI first (Clearly define the solution you are seeking) Allow for More Time Things that worked well Overall structure with involvement from clerk community subcommittee approach Seasoned Staff Thorough Certification Testing During Evaluation
Status of current RFP Anticipate award recommendations in September/October 2016 Equipment Roll-out beginning May 2017 Equipment Roll-out completed by 2018 Cannot use in Statewide General for 1 st use
State Certification as part of RFP Attachment 1.5 Section #3 EMS Software Testing Procedures added to RFP Document Requires Vendors to meet current and future election reporting data formats Michigan Election Night Reporting (ENR) Format in Bid GEMS Standard Import 1.5 as data export from Michigan Qualified Voter File (QVF) System Michigan Standard Results File Format Reporting results into State EMS Lesson learned from 2004 Included language for IEEE reporting standard in RFP
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