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Approve the Registrar of Voters Master List of Contracts totaling $760,614 including three contracts providing a variety of election services and support effective July 1, 2025; Delegate authority to the County Administrator to execute all agreements and any subsequent amendments, with County Counsel concurrence, up to 10% of the total contact amount not to exceed $74,999 annually; and Authorize the Registrar of Voters to execute any subsequent amendments which are technical or administrative in nature and have no fiscal impact
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Published Notice Required? Yes ____ No _X _
Public Hearing Required? Yes ____ No _X _
DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION:
The Registrar of Voters (ROV) recommends that the Board of Supervisors:
1. Approve the ROV Master List of Contracts totaling $760,614 in contracts effective July 1, 2025; and
2. Delegate authority to the County Administrator to execute all agreements and any subsequent amendments, with County Counsel concurrence, up to 10% of the total contract amount, not to exceed $74,999 annually; and
3. Authorize the Registrar of Voters to execute any subsequent amendments which are technical or administrative in nature and have no fiscal impact.
SUMMARY:
The ROV administers fair and impartial federal, state, local and school elections for more than 275,000 registered voters in Solano County. The contracts in this master list are a continuation of services from previous fiscal years and will support the ROV in the next two scheduled upcoming elections: the 2026 June Primary Election and the 2026 November General Election.
Included in this item are the following contracts:
1. KNOWiNK LLC is contracted to provide licensing and support for electronic pollbooks (e-rosters) for use at polling places during elections.
2. Valley Relocation and Storage of Northern California Inc. is contracted to provide election support to move election equipment and supplies to and from polling places.
3. Valley Relocation and Storage of Northern California Inc. is also contracted to provide poll site cleaning and sanitization.
Further details of funding amounts of the individual contracts can be found in the attached list of contracts included in Attachment A. The attachment includes links to the contracts.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Funding for these contracts is included in the department’s FY2025/26 Recommended Budget and funding for subsequent fiscal years will be requested through the annual budget process. ROV is primarily funded from General Fund.
DISCUSSION:
The Registrar of Voters (ROV) is dedicated to its mission providing accurate and secure elections in a timely manner. As in previous elections, these contracts support the mission of the ROV to deliver successful elections and maintain the public trust of Solano County elections. Continuing these contracts allow the ROV to conduct the 2026 June Primary and 2026 November General elections with the same level of services as the 2022 and 2024 election cycles. Elections will be conducted with voting options for all voters which will include in-person voting at 70 election day poll places, 30 days of in-person early voting at the ROV Office, 30-day ballot drop off at 16 staffed locations, and vote by mail ballots sent to all active registered voters.
ROV is requesting approval of the following contracts:
KNOWiNK, LLC.
Since March 2013, the ROV has utilized electronic pollbooks (e-rosters) for use at polling places during elections. The e-rosters have proven successful in improving the in-person voting experience by speeding up the check-in process for voters, provides opportunities to update registration data, locates correct polling places for voters at wrong location, allows for same day registration, and cancels outstanding vote by mail ballots for voters who vote in-person on election day. Additional benefits from the e-roster program include a reduction in provisional voting, faster upload of voting history post-election, greater accuracy for the canvassing of totals and more accurate information for election observers.
The contract renewal includes support for all existing hardware, annual upgrades, election day support and training through the 2026 election cycle. This would allow all poll locations to employ the same processes, reduces manual check-in of voters, reduces wait times during high-volume elections, accurately process same day registrations, and provides flexibility for future election process changes.
The ROV’s existing e-roster system has proven to be very successful for the county. The ROV has experienced improvements in poll place operations by utilizing e-rosters including faster voter check-in times. The use of e-rosters has also led to a 70% reduction in the number of provisional ballots for each election. Voters have experienced a direct impact by the implementation and continued use of e-rosters. Poll workers have found the system intuitive to use and have provided feedback that the ROV has implemented over time to make the product better.
KNOWiNK LLC will provide licensing and support for e-rosters for use at polling places during elections. They have provided this support since 2013.
Valley Relocation and Storage of Northern California, Inc.
This contract includes services for voting equipment delivery and retrieval to 70 polling places, support for VBM pick-up during the five days prior to election day, and support for VBM pickup three times at 70 polling places on Election Day.
The ROV continues to support the increase in VBM returns at curbside and election day locations. The ROV experiences close to 50% of the VBM returns delivered to staffed drop-off locations on election day. The ROV attempts to process all ballots on election night, ensuring voters receive notification that their ballot has been received, and processed. This also helps the ROV to provide more complete results to candidates by the end of the evening and allows ROV to move to processing provisional ballots faster to complete the unofficial results. The ROV will continue to look for ways to increase VBM services to voters as over 90% of a county-wide turnout is expected to be VBM voting.
A second contract with Valley Relocation and Storage of Northern California, Inc. provides services for cleaning and sanitization of voting equipment and poll places during Election Day which has been in place since 2020.
Valley Relocation and Storage of Northern California, Inc. has been involved in providing election logistics support for Alameda, Sacramento and Solano Counties for over 17 years.
ALTERNATIVES:
The Board may choose to address some or all of these contracts individually, request clarification or remand these contracts back to ROV for revision. This is not recommended because these contracts are essential for the continuation of critical services provided as part of the successful election administration and experience of the voters in the County.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
County Counsel has reviewed and approved the contracts as to form.
CAO RECOMMENDATION:
APPROVE DEPARTMENTAL RECOMMENDATION