Internet and Tabulator Voting Solution

The vendor is required to provide voting and supporting services provider to supply electronic vote counting equipment and an internet voting solution, for the city’s 2026 municipal and school board election.
- The system software shall have the capability to integrate internet and walk-in poll and tabulator voting, while ensuring that the voter is struck off the voter’s list in real-time preventing them from voting twice.
- The information processing subsystem consists of the hardware and software required to accumulate voting data for all candidates and questions within voting units. 
- To consolidate the voting data at a central level, the system will:
•    Maintain and generate audit reports. 
•    Detect and disable improper use of the system. 
•    Monitor overall status.
- The ballot tabulation unit is an optical scan based unit that is ballot initiated. 
- Ballots should be automatically fed into a ballot container box.
•    The container box has the capacity to receive, at a minimum, 5000 ballots. 
•    The OSVT unit is equipped with a paper sensing system to accomplish, at a minimum, the following functions:
o    Ballot recognition.
o    Determine ballot thickness.
o    Prevents more than one ballot (at a time), from being entered into the unit.
o    Detect paper jams.
o    Reads ballots inserted in all directions.
o    Prevents something that is not a ballot from being fed into the tabulator.
•    OSVT, and audio units’ capabilities include:
o    Interchangeable with each other.
o    Employ a removable memory unit.
o    Contain an internal backup battery to preserve and protect election data and vote totals, in the event of a power failure. 
o    Have an internal capability to perform self-diagnostics that will identify any unit malfunctions. 
o    Plug into a standard three prong 110-120V (volt) grounded electrical outlet. 
o    The equipment is protected from damage by power surges, brownouts, lightning and other transient current and voltage strikes. 
o    The recording on the audio component is clear and concise, the speed of the recording can be adjusted, and the equipment is voter operational, including the ability to fast forward, or skip contests. 
o    The OSVT unit has a read path that can be cleared of a jammed or misfed ballot by the election official at the voting place. 
o    The OSVT unit indicates to the voter and election official, whether a jammed or misfed ballot has been counted. 
o    For testing purposes, the system allows the operator at the municipal level to erase the results on memory units of the tabulators as necessary. 
o    The OSVT and audio unit contain a public counter that clearly displays the number of ballots accepted and recorded. 
o    The tabulator is capable of being programmed to return and provide a message on an:
1.    Over-voted ballot. 
2.    Under-voted ballot. 
3.    Misread ballot.
4.    Blank ballot.
o    The system will allow the election official to accept the ballot if any of the above takes place.
- To be consistent with tabulator voting, the online voting system will be capable of providing the municipality with the option of allowing “under-voting” or “over-voting”. 
- Informational messages will be presented to voters when they under or over vote ballots, with the option to “continue an under and over vote” or “return and correct their ballot”.
- The Voter will be allowed to submit a “blank” or “spoiled” ballot where they are required to select a candidate or option.
- Memory devices used to retain programs and data have at least a 99.9% probability of error-free data retention and that the data can be transferred to a program that will allow printed reports to be generated.
- The optical scan tabulators, and audio unit, can produce multiple copies of the printed reports showing zero votes cast prior to the opening of the voting place, and the capability to print:
•    Audit record entries.
•    Results of tabulation. 
•    Votes cast at the voting place at the close of voting.
- The system uses predefined time outs to disconnect computers that stay connected past a pre-set time and which display no activity.
- The voter is offered the capability to confirm their selection prior to their selection being committed to the system.
- The voter receives a confirmation of their vote to validate that their vote was accepted and included in the tabulation process.
- The Personal Identification Number (“PIN”) issued ensures the Voter is presented with the correct candidates based on their ward and school support.
- The system reflects any changes made to the list of electors prior to and during, in the event of adding or editing a voter record. 
- This should include the voter’s address, name change, or any other attribute(s) maintained on the profile record of the voter.
- The system is intuitive, easy to use and customizable to the municipality’s standards and branding. 
- Any proposals shall be approved by the City prior to implementation.
- The system is compatible with online browser translating software; for example, “Google Translate”, in Chrome.
- The internet voting system shall be equipped with customizable “Help Tools” on every page, to assist voters with the process of navigating the ballot.
- The system is capable of compiling results from internet voting and tabulator memory cards.

- Contract Period/Term: 5 years
- Questions/Inquires Deadline: September 22, 2025