Thanks to the impending distribution of updated county election equipment;  area election judges will get to say goodbye to one of the least enjoyable aspects of overseeing local elections– dealing with the cumbersome heavy equipment.

The reaction by election officials to the new PollPad and Verity writer and counter devices was very positive, during a demonstration for invited officials representing the county’s 23 precincts.

November 2018 elections will see Chisago County voters sign-in at their polling place on a tablet, replacing the need to lug around volumes of books with voter names alphabetized.

Registration will be swiftly verified. The signature will go onto a receipt-sized slip of paper.  Voters will have their own I.D number.

If there are questions or a challenge to the voter’s status, the device will prompt the polling site official and walk the voter through election day registration.  If the voter has brought someone to vouch for them as a precinct resident, the device can even handle that situation.

Election officers had the rare opportunity to gather together at the Chisago County Government Center before Christmas, for the initial walk-through.  Deputy Auditor Bridgitte Konrad assured everybody there will be additional sessions with the equipment after it arrives.  The county is awaiting word on how much funding it will be eligible for through the state.

The Poll Pad travels in a non-destructible carrying case and has been put into use in all of Canada and 480 jurisdictions in the U.S., according to Tim Vlach of Know-ink, an “innovative election solutions” firm.

The Verity writer and ballot scanner devices will make slick work of even lengthy ballots.

Justin Morris of Hart Inter Civic, pictured, set up a polling place for his demonstration, in about three minutes. The machines calibrated and “booted” themselves up and were ready to use in another three minutes.

The writer and scan counter are approximately $10,000 as a set.

Morris shared that the equipment has a capability through a modem to transmit final election reconciliation reports electronically.
Chisago County, however,  has opted for the time being,  to continue to collect hard copies when polls close.    The devices generate printed reports and tally results are made available nearly in real time.  Chisago County Auditor Dennis Freed commented that not only is the ability for secure remote  transmission very expensive– “…it’s also a public perception issue,” he said.  The county auditor  prefers continuation of delivery of physical ballots versus relying on purely digital data.

Vlach explained that all transactions and voter registrations are “locked” into the device and the systems’ security is second to none.
The registering and ballot-casting activity data interfaces almost instantaneously with all the county’s other devices, tracking precinct activity.  Vlach showed how a name entered in a mock sign-in account, came up as “AB” because the person had already submitted an absentee ballot.

Minnesota’s Secretary of State office worked with Poll Pad to design a system that adheres to Minnesota voter registration laws.  Large counties using Poll Pads include Hennepin, Stearns and Crow Wing.  In the 2016 general election over 8 million voters were exposed to a Poll Pad, Vlach continued.

Konrad, Chisago County Deputy Auditor, said the number of votes in any precinct will help determine how many tablets will be made available. The county estimates at least two on-site and up to seven or more,  depending on precinct activity.  Poll Pads are $1,280 a piece.

Konrad expects to hear back on a grant the county applied for,  through state election funding programs, in January.  Chisago County has budgeted $300,000 for costs associated with this equipment upgrade.

As soon as the county knows how many devices it can afford, a series of hands-on trainings will be scheduled, Konrad told the assembled election officials.  will also provide for public tests and practices on the equipment.

The equipment will not be ready for use in township elections in March, however.

Election officials heard of the many positives the equipment provides.

There will be a reduction in expenditures for storage, paper products, pre-printing ballots and efficiencies  may even result in the need for fewer election judges.

Another nice thing about the equipment will be highlighted in a new March presidential primary date coming in 2020.  With these devices, there’s no need to express your party preference out-loud.

The Poll Pad tablet can also be used at any remote location to do a registration drive.  The county could set them up at the county fair, care facility or civic celebration and register voters.

Disabled persons are also accommodated with a specially designed machine, that is even capable of reading in a mechanized voice contents on a ballot.

And, every election day,  voters are guaranteed to arrive at the wrong polling place. Election judges keep others waiting while they check a map and call other polling sites, to see if the voter is on their list.  The Poll Pad tablet screen will tell each voter they are at an incorrect polling place and provide the correct polling location.

BAIRD, Texas, Jan. 9, 2018 – Callahan County’s Election Office is ringing in 2018 with a new voting system and will start testing and training this week. Commissioners chose the most up-to-date technology available in the U.S. for the upgrade — the Verity® Voting system from Hart InterCivic. The approval came in late December, and County Clerk Nicole Crocker is thrilled that the new equipment has already been delivered.

“We are ready to get started, and I am so excited to see new boxes ready to be opened in my office,” she said. “This upgrade is good for the County. Verity is new and will serve us for 15 years or more. It wasn’t hard for our commissioners to see the efficiencies and financial advantages of Verity. They moved quickly to approve the purchase.”

Crocker is also eager to continue the County’s relationship with long-time election partner Hart InterCivic. “Hart’s people are wonderful to work with. They are helpful and experienced. We never seriously considered leaving our partnership with Hart.”

“We appreciate Callahan County’s confidence in Hart and in Verity. We have worked with them since 2005, and we understand their election preferences and needs,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions. “Our team is in motion helping prepare the County for a successful March election.”

Verity is a federally and state certified system designed from the ground up to be flexible, easy to use and secure with all new hardware and software. It will debut for the March 2018 election in Callahan County, and Crocker has already shared information about the new equipment on social media for her voters.

Users appreciate Verity’s intuitive touchscreen tablet that many compare to an iPad. “It’s time for this technology,” Crocker said. “Voters want touchpads.”

Crocker also is pleased that the lightweight, compact Verity Voting equipment is easy to transport to Vote Centers. In addition, the system’s removable tablet and accessibility features accommodate all voters, including those with disabilities. Once poll workers start training, Crocker knows they will be happy. She is looking forward to making their work easier and elections more efficient.

“Overall, Verity will be user-friendly and easier for the voters, and that’s what it’s all about,” she said.

Callahan County joins a growing number of Texas jurisdictions moving to Verity. Since the Texas Secretary of State certified the latest release of the system in late 2016, Hart has shipped more than 7,000 Verity devices across the State. Federally certified in 2015, the secure and efficient system is also in use in numerous counties throughout the U.S.

Braithwaite expects more Texas and national announcements throughout 2018.

Learn more about Verity in Texas: https://www.hartintercivic.com/texas4verity.

HILLSDALE, Michigan, December 19 – A trouble-free rollout of Hart InterCivic’s Verity® Voting system continues in Michigan where 11 counties chose the most up-to-date system available in the nation to replace aging equipment.

Recent delivery and acceptance testing exceeded Hillsdale County Clerk Marney Kast’s expectations. “We had received all our equipment Monday, November 27th. By Tuesday evening, we had tested every piece, from ballot boxes to tablets, printers and scanners. There were no issues with any devices. By the end of the day, our election clerks were satisfied.”

Acceptance testing, the process of verifying that newly unpacked equipment meets quality standards, is just one step in a series of measures taken to ensure Verity’s reliability and security.

“Verity quality assurance starts internally with every stage of development and manufacture — and continues with rigorous testing for certification at the federal and state levels,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of election industry experience. “The system goes through multiple rounds of logic and accuracy testing throughout each election to ensure it performs as required, and post-election audits assure stakeholders that results are accurate. Voter confidence is critical to the electoral process, and Verity’s thorough vetting helps build that confidence.”

Hart’s reputation for customer care, as well as Verity’s user-friendly design, convinced Kast that Verity was the best choice for Hillsdale’s voters. “Hart is so good to work with. We belong to a user’s group along with counties that have already voted with Verity. We’ve heard the feedback. They love it.”

Hillsdale, a county with 22 jurisdictions and 26 precincts, will debut Verity in 2018, along with the Michigan counties of Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Ionia, Livingston, Montcalm and Washtenaw. Counties already using Verity are Muskegon, Oakland and Ottawa. Stakeholders praised smooth processes for election managers, and voters were especially pleased with Verity’s “Your ballot has been counted” confirmation after scanning.

Kast, along with Chief Deputy Judy Leedy and Programmer/Deputy Clerk Brennon Balcom, are eager to start training early next year. “Our clerks were so impressed when we tested our devices. Everything was so easy, even setting the time and date was no trouble. They were ready to dig in right away.”

“We look forward to long partnerships with Hillsdale County and localities across the state of Michigan,” said Braithwaite. “The Hart team is committed to smooth, transparent and secure elections, and our processes are in place to assure successful voting cycles for many years ahead.”

Learn more about Verity.

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 21, 2017 – The Verity® Voting system, the most up-to-date election technology available in the U.S., is increasingly popular in Texas, where it earned praise from first-time and repeat users across the state following this month’s election. More than half of Texas voters already use technology from Austin-based Hart InterCivic. Hart rolled out the innovative and easy-to-use Verity system in 2015.

Home-grown in Texas and designed with input from election officials across the state, Verity’s integrated suite of hardware and software supports paper or electronic voting and serves jurisdictions choosing Vote Centers or precinct-based polling places.

Election officials debuting Verity Nov. 7 after switching from vendors outside the Hart family praised Hart’s superior customer service throughout their transitions and voting process.

“Hart gave us the training and support that we needed to successfully launch our new Verity equipment. We stayed sane, calm and confident knowing that Hart had our backs every step of the way,” said Melynn Huntley, Potter County Elections Administrator. Potter County, which includes the Amarillo area, chose Verity in August, implemented quickly and voted smoothly last week. “We feel equipped for many successful years under the Hart umbrella,” Huntley added.

This election cycle introduced Hidalgo County voters to Verity as well. “We are elated that the response from our community has been so positive,” said Yvonne Ramón, Elections Administrator.  “We have received numerous calls from voters who are pleased with the new voting equipment. The Verity feature that is most significant to me is the access code that allows voters to obtain their ballots independently, providing the assurance that votes are confidential and secure.”

“We receive consistent feedback that voters appreciate Verity’s intuitive features and up-to-the-minute security measures,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, a company with more than 100 years of election experience.

“We understand that there is no one-size-fits-all voting solution for Texans. For jurisdictions that want paper ballots, Verity delivers a voter-verifiable paper trail. For those that prefer a DRE, we offer the only system that includes a controller, to vastly increase efficiency in the warehouse and the polling place.”

“We take pride in efficient, secure elections and are eager to help new partners leave the problems of aging systems behind,” Braithwaite said.

Learn more about Verity in Texas: https://www.hartintercivic.com/texas4verity.

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 14, 2017 – Verity Voting, the secure, innovative and easy-to-use election system by Hart InterCivic, earned strong praise from locales pleased with last week’s election process. Efficient, trouble-free November votes reinforced that Verity, the most up-to-date voting technology available in the U.S., is the right choice for forward-looking jurisdictions acting now to replace older systems.

Officials in jurisdictions representing millions of voters chose Verity to support their preferred voting scenarios – from mail-in ballots in Oregon to touchscreens at Vote Centers in Texas to paper ballots securely scanned at precincts in Michigan. Verity’s integrated suite of hardware and software supports paper or electronic voting and is designed from the ground up to be easy to tailor to local election needs.

For some, the Nov. 7 election was their first use of Verity; others have relied on the system for multiple elections since it was federally certified in May 2015. Election types were varied – General, Municipal, Special – and feedback from voters and election workers was consistently positive.

“We heard again and again that voters love how easy Verity is to use. The public was impressed by quick, secure results. Some counties trimmed hours off tabulation times,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of election experience.

“Administrators praised streamlined setup while poll workers were happy with easy-to-learn improvements,” he added, noting that Verity is gaining momentum with every Election Day. “Smart administrators are rolling new purchases out now to lay solid groundwork for larger elections in the 2018 cycle.”

In Ottawa County, Michigan, County Clerk Justin Roebuck praised the security of Hart’s innovative  remote transmission solution and the speed at which information came in from his county’s 29 precincts. Roebuck had so much confidence in Verity that his staff live-streamed the vote report.

“Our citizens want to see transparency, and this was a great way to show results coming in by secure modem and to explain again that our results do not pass through the internet or even networked computers. We were so pleased to be able to show voters such rapid results.”

Michigan votes on paper ballots, feeding ballots into the Verity Scan digital scanning device at the polling place. Results are transmitted over a secure line to headquarters. “Our polls close at 8 p.m., and we had 99 percent of the county reporting by 8:20. That’s unheard of with our former system,” Roebuck said. By November 2018, more than 100 precincts in Michigan will be voting with Hart’s Verity.

Hart congratulates these early Verity adopters on their successful elections.

“These innovators are leading the way for other states, counties and cities looking to replace aging systems and enjoy the reliability that Verity ensures for years to come,” said Braithwaite.

For more information on the Verity Voting system, visit  https://www.hartintercivic.com/content/verity-system-overview.