Pa. taps Hart InterCivic for electronic voting equipment

Austin Business News    19 September 2005

Electronic voting company Hart InterCivic Inc. was chosen by the Pennsylvania Department of State to provide electronic voting systems in several Pennsylvania counties.
  

Hart InterCivic, which is headquartered in Austin, will provide its eSlate Electronic Voting System and other election products to Pennsylvania jurisdictions wanting to meet the upcoming deadlines of the federal Help America Vote Act, according to the company.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 was established, in part, to provide federal funds to states to replace punch card voting systems. Under the act, each state and jurisdiction is required to comply with those voting systems requirements by Jan. 1, 2006.

"We are proud to offer our eSlate System to Pennsylvania jurisdictions for purchase," says David Hart, Hart InterCivic founder and senior vice president of sales and marketing.

"The eSlate System has a proven track record throughout the nation and has demonstrated that it is accessible, accurate, secure and will provide the lowest total cost of ownership of any voting system on the market today."

The value of the deal isn't known because it isn't clear how many Pennsylvania jurisdictions will buy the eSlate system.

As as example, Hart has sold more than $30 million in systems in Texas since the company was approved as a vendor in 2001. The company estimates that more than 50 percent of Texas voters now use eSlate systems.

Hart InterCivic provides election products and services to hundreds of counties and thousands of government customers throughout the country.

In June 2000, the company introduced its eSlate Electronic Voting System, which was used by Hart InterCivic customers in nine states during the Nov. 2, 2004 general election: Texas, Colorado, California, North Carolina, Washington, Hawaii, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Hart InterCivic, which employs about 160 people with 100 of them in Austin, provides governments with complete electronic government systems and election management.