Bill Smith / CC
Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin withdrew the ongoing search for new voting machines amidst complaints about the process from lawmakers.
Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt sent Ardoin a letter asking him to restart the procurement process for new machines with more legislative, public, and expert input on best practices for obtaining modern voting machines.
Two vendors also filed complaints against the Secretary of State. The contract for the new machines will run roughly 100 million dollars.
Hewitt said one of her biggest concerns about the previous procurement process was that it was being conducted based on outdated 2005 federal standards and not the 2021 federal standards that were adopted weeks after the process first began.
Hewitt said when the new procurement process begins they hope to have outside voting security and cybersecurity experts more involved.
“We should be having a robust discussion about what the standards are and the specifications for our new machines,” said Hewitt.
Ardoin released a statement about the decision saying in part “While our current election-day voting machines has served Louisiana well, it is imperative that we seek the prompt engagement of the Louisiana Legislature to help our office to clarify these matters of law and to ensure that our citizens receive the highest level of competition in this important procurement.”
“We cannot let election administration become just another political football for politicians or voting machine vendors to kick around, without any understanding or concern for the consequences. I am withdrawing the RFP to spend the next few months seeking to undo the damage to voter confidence done by those who willfully spread misinformation and disinformation.”
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