One of the losing bidders for Louisiana’s voting machine replacement work wants a re-do, saying the bid process was “irresponsibly rushed and fundamentally flawed.” Election Systems and Software filed a formal protest late Thursday (Aug. 23) with the state’s procurement office, objecting to the choice of another vendor for the lucrative contract. The protesting company said the process used to choose Dominion Voting Systems to replace 10,000 early voting and Election Day machines was mishandled from the start by Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin, his office and the team that evaluated the bids.
“This solicitation, the evaluation process and resulting award have all been marred by hastiness and willful blindness to the proposals submitted,” Thomas Clark, a lawyer representing Election Systems and Software, wrote in the lengthy protest letter.
Ardoin defended the contracting process, saying the evaluation committee “selected the best voting machines to keep Louisiana at the forefront of election security and integrity.”
At Dominion, a spokeswoman said they hadn’t been notified of the protest and couldn’t comment.
Full Article: Losing bidder protests Louisiana’s voting machine contact | NOLA.com.