AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 29, 2019 – Hart InterCivic, a leading provider of secure voting systems in the United States, has patented new technology (U.S. Patent No. 10445966) that tabulates votes made on paper ballots without relying on controversial, unverifiable barcodes to capture voters’ choices.
The innovation, built into the recently certified Verity Duo system, was designed by Hart engineers to record votes in the most transparent, easy-to-verify way possible. The new scanning technology gives voters peace of mind that their marked ballots are tallied word-for-word, not converted into a barcode that cannot be checked by a human.
“As more security experts and voters call for paper-trail accountability, Hart’s mission is to provide systems that build trust and inspire confidence,” said Jim Canter, Vice President of Engineering and Product Management at Hart InterCivic, a U.S. company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.
“We chose to build a product that tabulates votes the right way — our competitors didn’t.”
Other systems rely on converting voters’ choices to barcodes to be interpreted by computer, an approach some security officials have questioned. In September, Colorado banned the use of barcodes for counting votes over security concerns and other jurisdictions are considering similar restrictions.
“The new Verity technology means ‘what you see is what you get,’ and that is what voters want and deserve,” said Canter. “At Hart we are proud to pair our passion for democracy with our engineering strength to create a ballot-tabulating solution that makes voting better for the public. With Verity Duo, this technology is available today.”
The newest technology in the Verity family, Verity Duo is a hybrid voting device that combines the ease of a touchscreen with the assurance of a paper trail. It was designed from the ground up to achieve the best paper-trail accountability and is the only federally certified voting system that scans choices in a way that a voter can verify.
With Verity Duo, a voter marks ballot choices on a touchscreen and prints easy-to-review vote records on an integrated printer. When satisfied with the accuracy of the printed paper record, the voter inserts it into the Verity Scan device to capture written choices using Hart’s newly patented optical recognition technology. Paper ballots are retained for audits or recounts.
A second security-related patent (U.S. Patent No. 10438433) also was granted this month. This technology includes a sliding door system to protect communications ports in the back of two Verity components. This innovation enables tamper evident seals that are easily managed by poll workers. It safely and conveniently solves an industrywide security issue: ports open to potential tampering due to no covering, covering by common tape, or complex sealing procedures often ignored or misunderstood by poll workers.
These newly patented security solutions join the company’s robust intellectual property portfolio supporting the Verity® Voting system, now in use across over 400 jurisdictions.
A growing number of jurisdictions are choosing Verity to prepare for secure 2020 elections.
“Hart pioneered digital ballot scanning and we are committed to forward-looking solutions to serve the public and protect democracy,” he said.
Learn more about Hart and election security: https://www.hartintercivic.com/electionsecurity/
Austin, TX – October 23, 2019 – Hart InterCivic announced today the promotion of Julie Mathis to the position of President. In addition to her new responsibilities, Ms. Mathis will also remain Chief Financial Officer. Phillip Braithwaite remains Chief Executive Officer and will become Chairman of Hart’s Board of Directors.
Ms. Mathis joined Hart as Chief Financial Officer in 2014 and oversees the finance and accounting functions in addition to delivering operational excellence in contract administration, human resources, information technology, supply chain, customer support, certification, sales operations and professional services.
“Julie has proven herself as an exceptional leader who has set a tremendous example of hard work and ethical behavior which has translated to business success. She has helped put Hart in a great position for continued growth and is clearly the right executive to lead Hart to the next level,” said Phillip Braithwaite. “I’ve worked closely with Julie over the past five years and I have the highest confidence that she will continue to set new standards in business performance.”
Prior to coming to Hart Ms. Mathis started her career as an auditor at a national public accounting firm. After that she spent over 20 years at Dell Inc., where she held successive finance leadership roles supporting services, procurement, operations, manufacturing, sales, and technology functions and teams across the globe. In one of these roles, Julie served as Vice President of Finance over the Public business segment – supporting state and local government customers across the country.
Since joining Hart, Ms. Mathis has propelled Hart on a path of profitable growth with an emphasis on the efficiencies and scalability of operations to serve customers nationwide. She has been a key strategist in leading the company’s strong financial infrastructure, customer focused support model, process driven operational approach, and emphasis on election security through technology leadership, public-private sector partnerships and operations best practice sharing.
During Ms. Mathis’ tenure, Hart has grown its market share, nearly doubling the number of voting system customers through sales of Hart’s Verity® Voting system. In addition, Ms. Mathis has helped oversee Hart’s continuing tradition of best-in-class customer satisfaction scores, solidifying Hart as one of the industry leaders in voting system technology and professional services.
“I appreciate Phillip’s ongoing leadership as well as the opportunity to continue working for our customers’ and company’s success,” said Ms. Mathis.
Ms. Mathis continued, “Going forward, Hart will continue to be a leader in the industry by listening closely to the needs of our customers and other stakeholders. We will continue to ensure the Verity Voting solution represents the pinnacle of security, usability, and transparency – all leading to smooth-running elections and confident voters.”
Orange County is taking delivery of new Verity® Voting technology from Hart InterCivic. Registrar of Voters, Neal Kelley, is overseeing the implementation of the new system that will support convenient Vote Centers in time for March 2020 elections.
“I’ve spent four years of my life working to bring Vote Centers to Orange County. Now is the time to return attention to what is best for the voters,” said Kelley, an advocate for Vote Centers at the state and national level who previously served as president of a national association of county election officials. “The notion of tying people down to a home precinct makes no sense in modern society.”
With Vote Centers, people cast their ballots at any center in the county, not just their home precinct, by bringing their by-mail ballot to the center or receiving a blank ballot printed for them at the center. Once hand-marked, the voter feeds the ballot into a scanning device that reads their choices directly, not from a barcode.
Vote Centers also allow a longer voting period, with locations open 10 days before Election Day, including two weekends.
Kelley, past president of the state’s association of election officials (CACEO), worked closely with the Secretary of State on a bill to allow California counties to switch to Vote Centers that was approved in 2017 for 2018 trials.
“Our County chose not to join those first trials for the 2018 elections. But, once our Board of Supervisors saw the data and the successes in other counties and states, they approved Vote Centers unanimously for 2019,” said Kelley who oversees elections in one of the largest jurisdictions in the country with more than 1.6 million registered voters.
“That was part one of a two part process. The next step was to identify the best system to use,” said Kelley. His office appointed a committee of seven experienced subject matter experts to compare the qualified responses to the County’s request for bids. After months of review, interviews and study, Hart was top-ranked across the board.
“I concurred with my committee and so did the Board of Supervisors. They unanimously approved Verity on Sept. 10.”
“Verity is the most intuitive tool to use,” he said. “The moment a voter sees and touches it, they know what to do. The design provides a better voter experience without a lot of explaining. People see the landing lights and they know where to put their ballot to be scanned. They like it.”
“Plus, Verity provides a full human readable paper ballot throughout the process, not a computer barcode. That’s important to our voters and for the security of our vote. That’s an absolute must for me.”
Kelley, an appointee to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Election Security Task Force, which helps oversee the nation’s election infrastructure, also is assured by Hart’s deep experience with election solutions.
“Verity is one of the few election technologies certified in California that is backed by extensive experience,” he said. Hart, which has worked with election solutions for more than 100 years, draws on input from its partners to respond to evolving needs of jurisdictions like Orange County.
County Supervisors shut down a request to consider a lower-ranked, uncertified vendor, which Kelley said has inferior paper ballot backups to ensure votes are counted correctly.
“It’s clear that no one wants voter choices to be encoded, whether by barcode or other techniques. Orange County chose a verifiable solution, leading the way with a smart choice for their voters,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, a U.S. company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.
“Verity does not encode voter choices. Period.”
“We’ve seen other jurisdictions have to go back to vendors and ask for untested workarounds to avoid barcodes. Orange County will never have this concern or expense,” he continued. “California has the toughest standards in the country and Orange County sets a high bar for their partners.”
Colorado bans barcodes for counting votes.
“Hart understands our vision,” said Kelley. “They see where we are headed with respect to Vote Centers and have been very responsive. Of course our process was very competitive, but Hart’s support and their ability to solve problems were certainly taken into account.”
The next few months are critical times for jurisdictions replacing aging election equipment and considering a switch to Vote Centers.
Kelley encourages his peers in other counties to focus on the voter experience. “Sticking to precinct polling is another layer of headache and Vote Centers will reverse that. They may not solve every problem, but they improve the experience.”
For those still undecided, Braithwaite invites them to follow Orange County’s lead with a hard look at Verity’s trustworthy, user-friendly approach. “Verity has enabled Vote Centers across the country and Hart has the experience and expertise to support any size county with proven paper-trail security. With 2020 elections just around the corner, Verity is ready today.”
Learn more about Verity: https://www.hartintercivic.com/state/california/
About Orange County Voting
With more than 3 million residents and 1.6 million registered voters, Orange County is the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States. Neal Kelley has served as Chief Election Officer since 2005 and has led the Registrar of Voters’ office through the largest cycle of elections in the County’s 130-year history.
New voting equipment from Hart InterCivic was approved in the county budget Monday after approval from the Parker County commissioners.
The county will receive 175 ballot marking devices, 50 digital ballot scanners and 50 controllers for a total of $937,921 — seven annual payments at $155,056.15. The current equipment used from Hart InterCivic is about 15 years old.
“I want to thank the commissioners court for approving the budget and the benefit of having these is now we have a paper trail where if something goes wrong, we can go back and do a hand count with the paper trail, so that’s the advantage of having this equipment,” Parker County Elections Administrator Don Markum said. “It’s a little more work for the election worker and for the voter it will just take a little bit longer, but as far as what people want with accountability, it’s a lot better.”
The commissioners approved the bid from Hart InterCivic in June after receiving demonstrations on the new equipment. They also received demonstrations and a bid on new equipment from vendor Election Systems & Software, which came in at $1,001,466.18.
Precinct 1 Commissioner George Conley said he likes Hart.
“I like Hart because they’re from Texas, so if something happens to it, they’re here,” Conley said. “I checked with other counties and customer service is what I hear is the biggest gripe about ES&S. [Markum’s] been working with Hart for years.”
Hart InterCivic Director of Sales Felice Liston said their company’s goal is to be the best, not the biggest.
“Our goal is not to be the biggest election company in the United States, it’s to be the best election company in the United States,” Liston said at the time of the bid approval. “One of the ways we do that is the exceptional customer service and also having partnerships with our customers so that everybody — from our CEO to our receptionist — has a personal relationship with our customers and knows everybody by name, knows what’s going on with that particular county and any issues that may arise and how we can partner with that county to fix those issues. We’ve been your partner for a decade and a half, and we thank you for that partnership.”
At Monday’s meeting, the commissioners also approved a resolution to officially adopt the new equipment.
“We have to do this according to the elections statute anytime we get new equipment, every single entity has to do the same thing, so the cities, the schools, ESDs, everybody will be doing this,” Markum said.
The old equipment will be picked up by Hart once the new machines arrive.
“This was bought with bond money, so you can’t resell it,” Markum said. “They will come pick up the equipment, destroy it and then send me a certificate saying the equipment has been destroyed, so if the government ever comes back on us we can show them we didn’t make any money off of them.”
Markum said the early voting workers have already trained on the new equipment and they are expected to receive all the devices on Oct. 1.
More details on the new voting equipment can be found by visiting hartintercivic.com.
Autumn Owens – Weatherford Democrat
Casting a ballot in one of Orange County’s new vote centers in 2020 is expected to take just three simple steps: check in at any of nearly 200 locations up to 11 days before the election, print a personalized ballot for your precinct regardless of where you show up to vote, and feed the completed ballot into a machine that scans it to be tallied on election night.
That’s the plan Orange County Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley outlined Monday, Sept. 16, when he demonstrated a new $15.3 million voting system in a mock-up of the voting centers the county will deploy beginning with the March 2020 primary.
A demonstration vote center at the OC Registrar of Voters in Santa Ana on Monday, September 16, 2019. The new vote centers will replace the vote-by-precinct system com 2020. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
The vote centers won’t be vastly different from traditional neighborhood polling stations – trained election workers will check people in and help those who need it – but the paper-based voting system is expected to be more convenient and secure, and to cut dramatically the number of provisional ballots used, Kelley said. That will mean faster results on election night and hopefully, less uncertainty and confusion for voters.
“This really focuses on the voter experience. It’s about what’s easier on the voter,” Kelley said.
Kelley said the new system from Hart InterCivic, which replaces one that dates to 2003, will be consistent: every registered voter will get a ballot in the mail, but if they decide to vote in person, the ballot printed for them at any of the 188 vote centers will look the same as the mail ballot.
Unlike older voting machines that provided a paper receipt for a ballot cast electronically – possibly with the data rendered as a bar code – Orange County’s new system is based around hard-copy ballots that can be easily read or recounted by humans, Kelley said. Ballots can be filled out the old-fashioned way, with a pen, or on a touch-screen machine that prints out the finished product.
Tablets used for voter check-in will connect wirelessly to each other so election officials can be alerted if someone tries to vote more than once in different locations. But the data on the tablets is encrypted for security – and to minimize any hacking risk, they’re not connected to the machines that record people’s votes, Kelley said.
Voters feed their own completed ballots into a scanner, which spots problems such as blank contests or too many boxes filled in and offers a chance to correct them.
Nearly 50,000 people tried a voting center pilot project in 2018 and most really liked it, Kelley said. He also pointed to Colorado, which mails a ballot to every registered voter (something Kelley also will bring to Orange County in 2020) but saw in-person voting rise with the advent of similar vote centers.
Voting rights advocates have criticized states and counties for closing some precinct polls, but Kelley said Orange County’s switch from more than 1,000 neighborhood polling places to 188 vote centers won’t disenfranchise people. Everyone will have the option to vote by mail, and vote centers will be open for at least four days – and some nearly three times that long.
“Now you have 11 days, now you have the weekends,” he said. “Now you can vote anywhere in the county.”
Kelley said he will finalize locations for the vote centers, as well as 110 ballot drop boxes by Dec. 6. He’s planning dozens of events and a nearly $2 million media campaign to explain the changes to voters in coming months.
By ALICIA ROBINSON | arobinson@scng.com | The Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: September 16, 2019 at 5:35 pm | UPDATED: September 16, 2019 at 5:35 pm
County voters will cast secure paper ballots using Hart InterCivic’s Verity system when they go to the polls this November, thanks to rigorous testing and research by the St. Louis County Election Board. Its evaluation led to the choice of Verity® Voting to replace a 13-year old system from another vendor.
Ballot accuracy and ease of casting a ballot were top considerations for the evaluation committee, which included subject-matter expert employees and an independent cybersecurity expert. Beginning in January, this group screened vendors, scheduled public demonstrations, reviewed feedback, consulted with other municipalities across the country and researched legislative and other requirements.
The result was the Board’s unanimous decision to choose Verity.
The new system “preserves the accuracy, efficiency and fairness of our elections,” the Board wrote in an announcement after the decision. “A voter can cast a vote and that vote is counted without an opportunity for an outside agency to change or affect that vote.”
“Congratulations to the voters of St. Louis County. Your peers have chosen Verity, with the highest standards and highest customer confidence,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, a U.S. company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.
“Hart is new to Missouri, but our election expertise is built on decades of hands-on partnerships with jurisdictions across the U.S. We look forward to serving St. Louis County with integrity and enthusiasm for democracy.”
Certified by Missouri’s Secretary of State and Election Division in May, Verity delivers a secure paper trail and will relieve worries related to ballot shortages at polling places in St. Louis County.
Under St. Louis County’s current voting method, officials must guess how many ballots need to be pre-printed, potentially running out or having to destroy extras. Verity saves money and time with printing in the polling location
With Verity, the correct ballot style will be printed after each voter has been checked in at the polling place. The voter hand marks the ballot and feeds it into a scanning device where markings are tabulated. Unlike “barcode” systems, the markings themselves are read and counted. The paper ballot is safely preserved for recounts or audits.
In listing benefits of the new system, the Election Board also noted that Verity “eliminates human error when printing out a ballot.” For example, some polling places serve voters from 7 different precincts, needing 7 different ballots. Verity will access the correct ballot electronically- every time.
The Board, a bi-partisan, state-mandated, appointed group of residents responsible for all public elections in the County, also pointed out that “the equipment is easy to store, transport and set up. It requires little maintenance and is not reliant on expensive software upgrades.”
Verity will debut in 30 of the County’s polling places that have elections this year. By November 2020, it will serve all 750,000 registered voters.
Hart has seen a steady increase in demand for Verity across the U.S., as counties prepare for 2020 elections. Now that St. Louis County has chosen Verity, Braithwaite expects more Missouri counties to select Hart’s secure and efficient technology to replace older systems.
“Hart pioneered digital ballot scanning, and Verity protects every step of the election process,” said Braithwaite. “Verity is a trustworthy, secure election solution backed by Hart’s signature service and reliability. We are proud to deliver what Missouri voters need and want.”
Learn more about Verity: www.hartintercivic.com/state/missouri/
Verity® Voting’s paper configuration from Hart InterCivic, will be used in Chatham County’s and Brunswick County’s municipal elections this November. An efficient, secure Election Day helps clear the way to purchase Hart’s next generation voting system.
“These Counties made an important decision to prioritize voter confidence and election security,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic. “We are eager to show North Carolina voters an easier, more trustworthy experience.”
A leader in the elections industry for over 100 years, Hart offers deep expertise in helping jurisdictions of all sizes to safely and efficiently transition from outdated voting equipment to reliable, modern solutions. Hart has a reputation as a trusted partner for implementations with a proven track record of success.
Verity advantages for North Carolina counties include:
- A hand-marked paper ballot system that does not embed voter selections in a bar code, ensuring 100% voter verifiability.
- Ability to generate full-size, identical printed ballots from accessibility devices at the polling place, ensuring an equal experience for all.
- Best-in-industry security protocols, including white listing, encryption, two-factor authentication and redundant data storage to safeguard the sanctity of the vote.
- User-friendly system for voters and election officials at every touchpoint in the election process.
- Top-ranking customer service from the most experienced election vendor in the nation.
These features and every other Verity function were carefully vetted during the North Carolina certification process. In addition to the rigors of federal certification by the Election Assistance Commission, the State’s process assures election stakeholders that the system will deliver trustworthy results on behalf of voters.
“An official election is the ultimate test of new technology. We look forward to these important next steps in North Carolina,” said Braithwaite. “Chatham and Brunswick saw a better path, and the rest of North Carolina can do the same.”
For more information on the Verity Voting system, please visit www.hartintercivic.com/state/northcarolina/
The Idaho Department of State certified the latest major release of the Verity® Voting system this past week. Idaho jurisdictions ready to replace aging equipment now have even greater choice when purchasing new voting system technology from Hart InterCivic, a longtime election solution provider.
An earlier version of Hart’s modern, secure Verity system – a configuration that supports hand-marked paper ballots – was certified for purchase in Idaho in 2016. This newest version of Verity adds Verity Duo, an innovative solution for hybrid voting, which combines the ease of a touchscreen with the assurance of a voter-verifiable printed vote record.
“Hart pledges to continue to bring innovative election technology to the State of Idaho,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, a U.S. company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions. “We are proud, but not surprised, to see Verity’s latest release meet the rigorous standards for Idaho certification.”
The Verity Voting platform provides efficient, flexible voting configurations for every way Idaho counties vote, including hand-marked paper ballots, machine-marked paper ballots, and by mail. The system’s newest component, Verity Duo, allows voters to mark ballot choices on a touchscreen and print easy-to-review vote records on its integrated printer. The voter then inserts the printed paper record into the Verity Scan device to capture choices word-for-word using Hart’s patent-pending optical character recognition (OCR) technology.
Verity Duo is more transparent than other hybrid devices that combine electronic ballot marking and paper vote casting – this solution from Hart counts votes directly from the human-readable summary, not from an undecipherable barcode.
Additional Verity advantages for Idaho counties include:
- Best in class security protocols including encryption, two-factor authentication and redundant data storage.
- User-friendly system for voters and election officials at every touchpoint in the election process.
- Engineering excellence in a modern hardware and software platform, not a continuation or extension of a legacy system.
- Top-ranking customer service from the most experienced election vendor in the nation.
Demand for Verity solutions is growing as counties prepare for 2020 elections. Braithwaite expects more state certifications as jurisdictions seek this trustworthy hybrid paper-trail option.
“We are eager to work with Idaho decision-makers to provide reliable, voter-friendly election systems,” he said. “Our innovation is backed by the most highly-rated customer support in the industry. The combination is a win-win for our partners.”
Bringing best-in-industry security and election expertise to more than 2 million California voters, three counties this past week adopted Verity® Voting , the only all-new election solution certified to the latest state standards.
Orange, San Joaquin and Stanislaus County officials chose Verity from Hart InterCivic as the best system for their voters, joining a surge of jurisdictions including Sierra, Calaveras, Mendocino, Yolo, Trinity, Solano and Lake counties selecting Verity. Designed to exceed California Voter’s Choice Act requirements, all-new Verity supports ballots cast by mail, at a Vote Center, or at a polling site.
With 1.6 million registered voters, Orange County will use Verity’s state-of-the art technology to adopt popular, convenient Vote Centers, a goal not possible with other options.
“California counties are prioritizing voter confidence and election security – they know Verity delivers. We appreciate the confidence they show in our solutions and staff,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions across the U.S.
“We look forward to sharing our expertise and state-of-the-art systems with California voters.”
Additional Verity advantages for California counties include:
- Best-in-industry security protocols, including white listing, encryption, two-factor authentication and redundant data storage to safeguard the sanctity of the vote.
- User-friendly system for voters and election officials at every touchpoint in the election process.
- Engineering excellence in a modern hardware and software platform, not a continuation or extension of a legacy system.
- Top-ranking customer service from the most experienced election vendor in the nation.
- Full accessibility features provide an equal and independent experience for voters with disabilities, including identical ballots regardless of voting method.
Additional California counties are considering switching to Verity before the 2020 elections and Braithwaite expects more announcements soon.
Learn more about Verity: https://www.hartintercivic.com/state/california/
With the November Uniform Election on the horizon, a growing number of Texas counties are modernizing their election systems by choosing secure, transparent Verity Voting from Texas-based Hart InterCivic. Many are sticking with longtime partner Hart to adopt the most up-to-date technology certified in the U.S., Verity® Voting.
Others, like San Augustine County, are switching from previous vendors because of Verity’s user-friendly design and exemplary customer support.
“Verity will let our election judges focus on the needs of the voters, not on the needs of aging equipment,” said Elections Administrator Kelly Camp in San Augustine County, where Verity was chosen over their existing vendor, ES&S.
“We were excited to see that Hart’s Verity is smaller and more manageable,” she added. “Plus Hart appreciates the value of relationships. They provide a high level of service. We’re small, but we matter to Hart.”
San Augustine uses hand-marked paper ballots which their 6,000 registered voters prefer.
“Large or small, you ALWAYS matter to Hart. We are happy to welcome you to the Hart family, where 95 percent of customers would recommend our services to a colleague, as referenced in our most recent customer survey,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, an Austin-based company with more than 100 years of experience providing election solutions.
In Gregg County, with 70,000 registered voters, Verity was chosen for its compatibility with countywide vote centers, user-friendly ballot programming, and the hybrid voting option, Verity Duo.
“We like the idea of hybrid voting – marking with a touchscreen and printing out a verifiable paper record, it delivers an additional layer of security for our voters without sacrificing convenience” said Gregg Elections Administrator Kathryn Nealy, who has worked with elections for more than 37 years.
“Two counties. Two approaches to elections. One trustworthy platform. Verity can be configured however your county wants to vote,” said Braithwaite. “Texas counties are realizing the value of choosing the trusted election engineering that makes sense for their voters – backed by unmatched standards and security.”
In addition to San Augustine and Gregg Counties, other recent Texas Verity converts include Hays, Tarrant, Hardin, Jim Wells, Llano, Uvalde, Wheeler, Wise, Taylor, and Parker counties. With Hart’s support, all plan to use Verity for their fall elections- supporting over 1.5 million new Verity voters across the state. Verity is currently serving 60 Texas jurisdictions with more than 15,000 devices deployed across the state.
User friendly
In Gregg County, demonstration machines are already set up for election workers and the public to test drive.
“The most common reaction I hear is ‘That’s easy!’ Everyone is excited about the true touchscreen,” said Nealy. “Our voters also like the idea of verifying their vote on paper before feeding it into the scanner.”
In San Augustine County, voters will notice little change as they mark paper ballots, but administrator Camp is looking forward to improved vote tallying and reporting. “Verity’s reports are easier to read and that means less stress on election night. It will be easier to provide results for public information requests,” she said.
Trustworthy and secure
“Hart has a good record on protecting the vote in this critical age,” said Camp. “I’m not a cyber expert so I am glad we can rely on Hart’s expertise to shore up our defenses against potential weaknesses or vulnerabilities.”
In Gregg County, Nealy says Hart’s attention to external security features improves voter confidence. “Our system is never on the internet, never on our network, security locks are proprietary – someone can’t just walk in and break into a voting machine or plug something in. I’m glad that Hart has thought about these external features.”
Reputation and expertise
As San Augustine commissioners met to consider Hart versus their previous vendor, one member relayed input from an official in Grimes County who has been a Hart customer since 2005.
“They love Hart! We were aware of Hart and Verity’s solid reputation throughout the state. But our commissioner got a personal report,” said Camp. “The court approved the upgrade at that meeting. When a commissioner is happy with an election system, that carries a lot of weight.”
Camp added that they are happy to now work with a Texas firm. “Of course Hart is a nationwide company, but we love that they are based here. They design, manufacture and employ in the State of Texas. We like supporting a Texas business,” she said.
In Gregg County, Nealy looks forward to continuing a Hart relationship that started years before electronic voting was introduced in 2006.
“We’ve known our Hart reps for a long time and consider them friends. They are always available and I even have their personal cell phone numbers. The Hart team worked overtime to get this project accomplished on our tight timeline.”
“And Hart is very experienced, not just with election technology, but throughout the election field,” she said. “They know what the law requires and they are trusted.”
As Verity’s popularity grows in Texas, it is also gaining momentum as the system of choice for counties across the U.S. preparing for 2020 elections. Verity’s uniquely flexible hardware and software approach means the system appeals to forward-looking jurisdictions seeking adaptable solutions. Verity supports in-person paper voting, in-person electronic voting, hybrid voting, vote centers and by-mail voting to respond to individual jurisdiction needs.
“Verity was born and bred in Texas and Hart has served Texas voters for more than a century,” Braithwaite said. “We listen to our Texas partners and respond with better products and services. There is no better choice for Texas voters than Verity.”
For more information about the Verity Voting system, please visit www.hartintercivic.com/state/texas/