Drafter
Clerk 09/18/2007
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A MOTION related to elections; accepting the Information Technology Business Case and recommended solution for ballot tracking and processing and providing policy direction to amend appropriate legislation to authorize the expenditure of funds for specific elections functions.
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WHEREAS, the King County council on June 19, 2006, passed Ordinance 15523 authorizing the director of the records, elections and licensing services division to conduct all elections entirely by mail ballot in accordance with state laws beginning in 2007 or 2008 as determined by the director if certain conditions are met, and
WHEREAS, conducting all elections in King County by mail will allow the county to focus resources and systems to gain efficiencies and increase security and accountability by limiting dependency on human interaction and ballot handling, and
WHEREAS, the council on October 16, 2006, passed Ordinance 15623 requiring the council review and approve by motion an Information Technology Business Case for the ballot tracking and processing and signature verification equipment and software that: fully complies with the Guiding Principles and other applicable requirements set forth in the Strategic Technology Plan 2006-2008; and has been reviewed and approved by the project review board, and
WHEREAS, the Information Technology Business Case complies fully with the guiding principles and most of the applicable requirements set forth in the Strategic Technology Plan 2006-2008, and
WHEREAS, the Information Technology Business Case has been reviewed and approved by the project review board, and
WHEREAS, at its September 17, 2007, meeting, the council's committee-of-the-whole met and provided additional policy direction to the executive regarding the acquisition of a ballot tracking system, and
WHEREAS, it will be necessary to modify 2007 budget provisos and other legislation in order to implement the council's policy direction;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The Information Technology Business Case and recommended solution for ballot tracking and processing required in Ordinance 15623, Section 1, Proviso P13, and submitted by the county executive are hereby accepted. This action does not accept or approve the business case for signature verification equipment and software.
B. The council hereby provides policy direction to amend appropriate legislation to authorize expenditure of one million six-hundred thousand dollars for the purchase and operation of Pitney Bowes equipment and software.
C. The council hereby provides policy direction that VoteHere software should not be purchased at this time.
D. The council hereby provides policy direction to amend appropriate legislation to authorize expenditure of the remaining funds of approximately one million one-hundred thousand dollars to be used only on developing a detailed implementation plan, project management, equipment maintenance and the purchase of additional equipment necessary to fully implement the ballot tracking system. None of the additional funding referred to in subsection D. of this motion can be used to purchase VoteHere software. The executive shall transmit to council a report detailing the purposes and amounts of expenditures within thirty days of the expenditure or encumbrance.
E. By April 30, 2009, the executive shall transmit to the clerk of the council, for distribution to all members, a report that estimates the costs and benefits of the investment in ballot tracking and processing equipment and software. The cost-benefit analysis shall use the standard approach required for all technology business cases. The report shall also estimate baseline performance measures prior to installation of the new
equipment and software, target performance measures and achieved performance measures following implementation of the new ballot tracking and processing system.