El Paso County discussing agreement with voting software company
UPDATE: Lisa Wise, El Paso County elections administrator, confirmed to ABC-7 that the county was asked to pay a 35% increase of $35,000 by VOTEC.
Wise told ABC-7 that the county has used VOTEC since 2010 and would have to pay in order to keep the company's services this year.
“The path we've decided to go down right now is to work with our county attorneys on drafting an amendment to the contract, because, again, the contract has the purchase price in it and the maintenance price in it, and that does not include a 35% surcharge," said Wise regarding the actions the county will take.
ABC-7 reached out to VOTEC to learn more about why the company had surcharged counties in Texas.
John Medcalf, CEO of VOTEC, referred us to a document where he explained they had to surcharge counties in Texas since they have been receiving late payments for the last six years from some counties.
Additionally, Medcalf said Texas counties received the surcharge this year because they would receive VOTEC's updated voter registration system.
Wise told ABC-7 voters should not be worried since the county does have contingency plans if they do not stay with VOTEC, including using a statewide voter registration system that many counties use.
EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- El Paso County Commissioners Court will discuss an agreement with a voting software company Monday.
This comes after counties across the state started receiving surcharge invoices connected to voting and elections according to the Associated Press.
VOTEC Corporation, the voting software company, is currently used by many counties in Texas including El Paso County according to county's agenda item.
