Commissioners OK $1.8M in election-related contracts

With less than three months until the start of the 2022 election cycle, Montgomery County officials authorized roughly $1.8 million in contracts during a recent meeting.

The primary election is slated for Tuesday, May 17, and the general election is scheduled for Tuesday, Nov. 8. For more information, visit vote.pa.gov.

The seven-figure package of contracts procured services on behalf of Montgomery County Office of Voter Services. The series of agreements passed in a 2-1 roll call vote.

Montgomery County Commissioners’ Chairwoman Val Arkoosh and Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr., both Democrats, voted in favor, while Commissioner Joe Gale, a Republican, was the sole dissenter. Of note, a previously awarded $1.5 million contract with NPC Inc., of Claysburg, Pa., for election ballot printing and mailing services was renewed. The original one-year contract included “five additional optional renewal terms,” according to the contract, which now has “three remaining optional annual renewal terms.”

Another established contract for a countywide voting system was renewed and amended last week.

The agreement with Dominion Voting Systems, of Denver, covered the “second available contract renewal term,” which covered software licensing, hardware warranties and election support services for the 2021 primary and general elections.”

It required roughly $129,063 more “for services required for high-speed scanner training, state-ordered recount of the November 2021 general election and shipping charges for equipment carts,” the contract states.

The revised figure now stands at about $603,884, according to the contract.

The county’s voter services department continued an existing $163,328 agreement with Clemmer Moving & Storage Inc., of Telford, in order to move election equipment for the 2022 primary and general elections.

Initially authorized for the 2019 election year, the contract included “four optional annual renewal terms.” A one-year $35,119 agreement with NPC Inc. covered “poll book printing” for the 2022 election term. Additionally, a $35,000 agreement with William Penn Printing Co., of Pittsburgh, was renewed for the second time to provide supply boxes for Election Day.