The State of Maine has begun the process of upgrading its aging voting machines. They recently posted a Request For Proposals (RFP). This is a really good idea – the equipment is getting old, and there's a new federal standard.
VotingWorks is strongly interested in helping Maine with new vote tabulation equipment. Unfortunately, the constraints of the RFP make it impossible for us to participate. The 6-week delivery timeline effectively limits the field to one or two large legacy vendors who maintain warehouse inventory – typically of older equipment. In addition, the RFP's certification requirements are too weak to serve Maine to the fullest: the RFP accepts systems that have merely applied for certification to the latest standard, rather than systems that have actually passed all testing.
We just sent the State of Maine a letter detailing our recommendations. As part of our strong commitment to transparency, we are publishing this as an open letter [PDF].