Discuss, consider and take appropriate action on exempting VOTEC Corporation from the competitive bidding requirements established by Section 262.024 (a)(7) of the Texas Local government Code Discretionary Exemptions, as the sole provider of the VOTEC Election Management and Compliance System (VEMACS), Ballot Board, VoteSafe and software and maintenance for these products, and authorize execution of the agreements.

The VOTEC Election Management and Compliance System (VEMACS) is a modular election management platform that the Williamson County Elections Department uses to manage voter registration.  As an add-on module to VEMACS, the Elections Department has used the Ballot Board Signature Verification Module, which is used in the processing of the thousands of ballots by mail received annually for multiple elections.  VEMACS also works in conjunction with VoteSafe to export voter registration information to the VoteSafe electronic poll books used in each election.  VOTEC also provides software and maintenance for these products. An RFI was posted in Negometrtix for 14 days with zero responses received from another competitor.  The term of this sole source exemption will be effective for 36 months from the date of approval.  Estimated annual cost is $124,319.08.  This is budgeted for annually.  This expenditure will be charged to 01.0100.0492.004506.  Department contact is Elections Administrator Christopher Davis.