VA Pollbook Changes Appear to Violate Election Certification

September 14, 2024

Exclusive: New e-mail releases show that election officials were aware of the risks back in April about DemTech’s murky status as a provider of pollbook software for voting.

A major vendor of electronic poll book software across Virginia appears to have violated state certification standards after it abruptly ended support agreements in early 2024 with localities across the Commonwealth.

The finding raises questions about whether the estimated 92 localities across Virginia that are using DemTech software are properly certified with days to go before early voting.

Logic & Accuracy testing of pollbooks must be completed by noon the day before voting begins. Virginia starts early voting on Sept. 20.

“All DemTech/Civix personnel in Virginia have had their contracts terminated effective immediately,” wrote Ricky Keech, Deputy Director of Elections for Loudoun County, in an email chain to an elections working group, in April of 2024.

EPEC Team obtained the emails as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

The firm’s sudden end of service on contracts to manage the software left election officials scrambling for answers about servicing for election preparations.

Based on the emails and EPEC Team’s reporting, DemTech appears to have violated state certification standards by changing out support agreements with no apparent notification to Virginia’s Department of Elections or localities.

EPEC Team obtained the emails to the working group as part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

Rumors have been swirling for months about DemTech’s status after its website went offline in April with no explanation.

Repeated emails and phone calls from EPEC Team to DemTech contacts asking about the company’s certification and status were not returned.

If DemTech has turned over all of its servicing capability to Civix, as the emails suggest, it would appear it did so without notifying ELECT or municipalities.

Who is Certified for 2024?

In 2020, DemTech’s electronic pollbook system was certified as meeting the revised certification standards by the Virginia State Board of Elections, according to Loudoun County’s election website.

.Details about the ownership structure of DemTech and Civix are unclear.

In August of 2023, Civix, which describes itself as a leading public sector software and services firm, announced that it had sold

its Critical Infrastructure division to Modaxo Inc. (“Modaxo”), “a global technology organization focused on moving the world’s people.” Modaxo appears to be headquartered in Canada.

The Civix statement said:

The sale is part of Civix’s strategy to focus on its core business serving state and local governments. It will enable Civix to reinvest resources and capital into its team of public sector experts and suite of government technologies.Since rebranding as Civix in 2020, the company has made significant investments in meeting the evolving needs of state and local governments. It opened a Center of Excellence in Heathrow, Fla. with all the features of a major software development firm focused exclusively on innovation in GovTech.

It integrated DemTech’s full suite of software into the Civix Elections Management Platform to create an end-to-end system. And it deepened its bench of former public servants, information security professionals, and government technology experts.

Loudoun County is among an estimated 92 localities across Virginia that list DemTech as their pollbook provider, per VerifiedVoting.org, a nonprofit firm that tracks election equipment across the United States.

According to ELECT’s own Electronic Pollbook Certification Standard:

“Any modification to the hardware, software, firmware, infrastructure or any component of a certified [electronic pollbooks] EPB will invalidate the prior certification unless ELECT can review and provide an assurance to the [State Board of Elections] SBE that the change does not affect the accuracy, reliability, security, usability or accessibility of the system.”

Logic & Accuracy testing of pollbooks must be completed by noon the day prior to the start of early voting on Sept. 20. #

–Compiled by EPEC Team (Chris Rohland & Erin Joyce)

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