IfG.CC -
Institute for eGovernment

The Ohio Counties of Ashtabula and Williams have decided to purchase Hart InterCivic's eSlate(TM) Electronic Voting System under the State's election reform program. The Boards of Elections in both counties made unanimous decisions to purchase the eSlate System after extensively reviewing alternative electronic voting systems available to counties through the Ohio program. Ohio's election reform program implements key portions of the recently passed Help America Vote Act, which calls for phasing out of punch card voting systems among other election system improvements. Over the last several months, representatives of the Ohio Secretary of State's Office have evaluated electronic voting systems currently available to election officials, including an independent security review. The result is a list of vendors from which Ohio counties may choose. Hart InterCivic has teamed with MAXIMUS to offer Ohio counties the eSlate Electronic Voting System, along with a comprehensive program of services and support.

"We are looking forward to installing the eSlate System in Ashtabula County in time for the March 2004 Primary Elections," said Richard Hornstein, Director of Elections at Ashtabula County. "We have been evaluating voting systems for a very long time, researching all aspects of the systems and the companies that offer them."

"We are extremely happy with our decision to purchase the eSlate System, especially based on our recent experience using the eSlate during our pilot election this August," continued Hornstein. "Hart InterCivic's management of the August pilot election, especially the excellent training of our staff and poll workers, confirmed our decision and give a great deal of confidence in our success." Williams County plans to install the eSlate System for initial use during the November 2004 Presidential Election.

"We are very happy to be working with MAXIMUS and Hart InterCivic on the implementation of our new voting system," said Stephanie Shook, Director of Elections at Williams County. "The behind-the-scenes capabilities of the system are very impressive, from ballot layout to absentee by mail to tabulation and reporting. The eSlate System is very robust, yet flexible and the training and the MAXIMUS/Hart program of service, training and support are excellent," said Shook.

Earlier this year, the MAXIMUS/Hart Team successfully conducted elections using the eSlate System in Ashtabula, Hamilton and Portage Counties. Exit surveys completed by more than 2,000 voters in the three counties reported that more than 96% of voters found the eSlate System easy to use.

MAXIMUS and Hart InterCivic were awarded the electronic voting system contract for the County of Orange, California in early 2003. Orange County is the fifth-largest county in the United States. In October the two companies worked together to support Orange County during the historic gubernatorial recall election in California where 800,000 ballots were cast using the eSlate System's Ballot Now(TM) absentee balloting application.

"We are extremely proud to have Ashtabula and Williams County, Ohio counted among Hart InterCivic's customers and our first of what we hope to be many Ohio customers," said David Hart, Hart InterCivic's Chairman. "We take their decision very seriously, and the accuracy, security, and efficiency of their elections will be a constant concern for Hart."

The eSlate Electronic Voting System is one of the most widely used electronic voting systems in the nation. Since introducing the unique eSlate electronic voting solution in 2000, Hart InterCivic has sold more than 25,000 eSlate units to jurisdictions representing 5 million registered voters. Since first used in live elections in 2000, nearly three million votes have been cast accurately and securely on the eSlate System. Hart InterCivic has successfully installed the eSlate System in jurisdictions of varying sizes, including two of the nation's five largest counties (Harris County, Texas, the nation's third-largest county, and Orange County, CA, the nation's fifth-largest county).

Quelle: Business Wire, 01.12.2003