PONTIAC, Michigan, Apr. 18, 2017 – Oakland County is among a growing number of forward-looking Michigan counties to select the Verity Voting® system from Hart InterCivic. The purchase is part of a statewide, state-funded initiative to replace aging election equipment. The second-largest county in the state, Oakland County cited Verity’s future-ready technology and ease of use, along with Hart’s reputation for excellent customer service, as the primary factors in the decision.
“We applaud Oakland County for its leadership in securing the most advanced voting system technology on behalf of its voters and taxpayers,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic. “Verity’s powerful election management software and compact, easy-to-use polling place devices will serve Oakland County well for many years to come.”
County Clerk Lisa Brown and Director of Elections Joe Rozell were instrumental in choosing Verity and Hart. They worked closely with municipal election officials throughout Oakland County to ensure that all stakeholders’ concerns and priorities were addressed. Voters in selected municipalities will first vote on Verity this August.
“We want everyone in Oakland County to be completely confident in the election process. Verity has security features – like preventing a ballot from being counted twice – that will instill that confidence,” Brown said.
“You can see that a lot of thought went into the design of the voting system,” she added. “A person in a wheelchair can actually reach the accessible ballot marking device and tabulator. We like that all the ballots use the same type of paper – voters who use the accessible device don’t get a different type of ballot.”
Verity’s easy-to-use election definition software, used to prepare ballots and equipment for each election, also caught the attention of Oakland County decision makers. Rozell commented that programming elections will be much easier and faster with the new software. He also expressed excitement about the system’s electronic transmission capabilities, saying, “When precincts send their results to the County via modem for accumulation and reporting, the process will be more secure, and we’ll easily be able to track which precincts have sent results and which haven’t. Only Verity adds the assurance of a federally certified solution.”
Hart has seen tremendous customer growth in recent years, and customers report extremely high customer satisfaction. With its new office in Oakland County, the company will provide local service, as well as serving Michigan customers from its headquarters in Austin, Texas.
“We are proud to welcome Oakland County to Hart’s Michigan family of Verity users,” Braithwaite said. “We look forward to a long, successful partnership with Oakland County and with all our Michigan customers.”
Learn more about Verity in Michigan.