Voting machine search commences
By Zach Despart STAFF WRITER
Christine Valeriano, left, exhibits a voting machine at a trade show Tuesday in Houston. County Clerk Diane Trautman’s office is looking to update voting technology.
Brett Coomer / Staff photographer
Harris County Clerk Diane Trautman, left, checks out a voting machine demonstrated by Bryan Hoffman at a trade show Tuesday in Houston.
Harris County formally has begun searching for a new voting machine model with the aim of debuting the devices in a 2021 election, County Clerk Diane Trautman announced Tuesday.
Speaking at the International Association of Government Officials trade show in downtown Houston, Trautman said the county plans to select avendor for new voting machines by next July. She estimated the cost of purchasing about 5,000 machines would be $74 million.
“One of the issues that I campaigned on was making the election process simpler and more convenient and more trustworthy,” Trautman said. She added, “Now it is time to address making the voting process more trustworthy by replacing our outdated voting machines.”
Trautman said replacing the current machines, some of which are 20 years old, is an important next step after her administration debuted countywide voting centers in May.
Harris County awaits approval from the secretary of state to expand the system, which allows voters to cast ballots at any location, regardless of their assigned precincts.
The clerk’s office plans to form a community advisory group in the fall and issue arequest for proposals to vendors in January. A voting selection committee comprised of election workers and staff from the county universal services and purchasing departments will help choose two voting machines as finalists in March.
Trautman said her office will consider whether the county needs machines that produce a paper record. She said in November new voting machines must produce a “verifiable paper trail.”
Elections Director Michael Winn said the county plans to debut the machines in a low-turnout 2021 election so the clerk’s office can more easily address any stumbles during the rollout. High-turnout elections in Harris County regularly draw more than 1 million voters.
“We want to work out the kinks and make sure we get our processes down,” Winn said.
Winn, who came to the clerk’s office from Travis County this year, said he helped that county choose a new voting system in the early 2000s.
The trade show at the Marriott Marquis Houston featured more than a dozen vendors exhibiting voting machines. Trautman and other county officials perused the booths. zach.despart@chron.com