Dallas County approves contract for new polling system software
Summary
Dallas County Commissioners voted to approve a $7.6 million contract for new E-poll books ahead of the municipal elections in May. ES&S lost its certification after allegedly failing seven technical and three functional standards during testing, according to the Office of the Secretary of State (SOS), as Texas Scorecard reported. At the Dallas County Commissioners meeting in January, Judd Ryan, the senior vice president of sales for ES&S, took responsibility for the software glitch and said he believed the issue could be quickly corrected, allowing the company to get recertified. “I think our development team will fix the issue, I think we will get certified, and if they vote to stay with us, I think we’re going to have a great election with them in May.” However, the SOS has not yet recertified ES&S. The Brennan Center for Justice has suggested that polling places should use E-poll books as well as paper backup copies of voter information in case of power loss or other technical issues, per Texas Scorecard.