Fri, Feb 28, 10:11 PM (3 days ago)
From Smart Elections
URGENT CONCERN
Suffolk County is moving forward with the 34 million dollar purchase of ExpressVote XL voting machines despite the fact that there has been no competitive bidding process as they promised there would be.
The vote is Tuesday.
Please call Suffolk County and urge them to vote no on Appropriations 1026.
The general number is 631-853-4070
Even if you don't live in Suffolk County, state and national elections are determined by these swing counties like Suffolk and you have a right to be deeply concerned that they will be voting on a machine that experts say is insecure and whose results cannot be confirmed by audits.
Please also contact anyone you know who lives in Suffolk County and urge them to contact their county legislator.
Suffolk County Legislators are listed here
https://www.scnylegislature.us/148/Legislators
Here are:
Kind Regards,
@LuluFriesdat
Founder & Executive Director, SMART Legislation
Letter from Free Speech for People tp Suffolk County
Chair Robert Trotta
Vice Chair Leslie Kennedy
Ex-officio Presiding Officer McCaffrey
Legislator Tom Donnelly
Legislator Steve Flotteron
Legislator Chad Lennon
Legislator Rebecca Sanin
Legislator Ann Welker
Ways and Means Committee
Suffolk County Legislature
725 Veterans Memorial Highway
Smithtown, NY 11787
February 24, 2025
Re: Vote NO on Appropriations 1026 for new voting machines because the Board of Elections executed a rental contract for voting machines without legislative appropriations or competitive bidding, required by Suffolk County and New York State law.
Dear Chair Trotta, Vice Chair Kennedy and members of the Ways and Means Committee,
We[1] are writing to urge you to vote NO on Appropriations 1026 and alert you to profound, potentially illegal irregularities in the Board of Election’s procurement process for touchscreen ExpressVote XL voting machines. We also urge the Ways and Means Committee to seek an investigation by the Suffolk County Comptroller and County Attorney into possible violations of State and County procurement laws.
1. The Board of Elections has executed a contract to rent ES&S ExpressVote XL voting machines without receiving the necessary appropriation of funds from the Legislature.
On February 13th, we received, through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, a copy of the contract executed by the Board of Elections to lease ES&S ExpressVote XL voting machines. (See attached.) The agreement is dated January 22, 2025. On Feb. 4. 2025 the legislature laid on the table the resolution to appropriate funds for this contract and it has still not been approved.
This indicates the Board of Elections circumvented the authority of the Legislature and may have violated Suffolk County Code § A4-12(C),[2] which requires that:
“No contract, contract amendment, contract extension or contract modification which, in any manner, involves the expenditure of money or the incurring of any pecuniary liability shall be made or entered into by any administrative unit; the County Executive, the Chief Deputy County Executive, a Deputy County Executive, a County department head, a County commissioner, a County chief deputy department head, a County chief deputy commissioner, a County department head, or a County deputy commissioner unless a sufficient amount of money has been appropriated and is available therefor or has been authorized to be borrowed therefor pursuant to the New York Finance Law.”[3]
2. The BOE has entered into this contract without complying with state and county requirement to engage in competitive bidding as required by Suffolk County Code § A4-14 and New York State General Municipal Law Article 5-A.
Competitive, public and transparent bidding is required for procurement contracts for all goods and services per Suffolk County Code § A4-14[4] and New York State General Municipal Law Article 5-A.[5]
New York State enacted these policies specifically “…to assure the prudent and economical use of public moneys for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the state and to facilitate the acquisition of facilities and commodities of maximum quality at the lowest possible cost.”[6]
At the June 18, 2024 meeting of the Budget and Finance Committee meeting, Presiding Officer McCaffrey reiterated the protections of these policies and assured the public that there would be the requisite competitive bidding process, saying:
“We are not buying those specific machines, that is not what the appropriation is. It will be put out to bid, and we’re going to have some due diligence in terms of what machines we think are appropriate.”[7]
However, the Board of Elections not only executed this contract before the Legislature appropriated the requisite funds, it appears the Board contracted for services without a competitive bidding process, potentially violating state and country code.
The Board of Elections has claimed that this contract is exempt from State and County requirements to conduct a competitive bidding process for the procurement of the voting machines. This is untrue.
The New York State Office of General Services has negotiated umbrella contracts for voting system procurement for four different voting system vendors including ES&S. However, these New York State contracts[8] are for the purchase of voting equipment only. There is no General Services contract for the lease of ES&S voting equipment. This means that the County is not enacting a contract pre-negotiated by the Office of General Service.
The county has instead negotiated its own contract and is therefore bound to follow the requirements in state and county law to seek competitive bids from other vendors. Its failure to do so does not comply with state and county code.
3. Conclusion
There are serious, potentially illegal, irregularities in the purchasing process that cannot be allowed to proceed. We urge you to vote NO on Appropriations 1026 to halt this process demand an investigation into the Board of Elections conduct. Coupled with the inconsistent candor of the Board of Elections in its justifications for the multi-million dollar expenditure, it’s plain the Board of Elections has failed to protect the interest of Suffolk voters and taxpayers and the Legislature must act.
We urge you to request the County Comptroller and County Attorney examine any potential violations of New York State and Suffolk County procurement regulations.
Thank you for your attention to this very important matter. If you have any questions or if I can provide any additional information, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Very Respectfully,
Susan Greenhalgh (Amityville)
Senior Advisor for Election Security
Free Speech For People
[1] Free Speech For People is a non-profit, non-partisan public interest legal organization that works to renew our democracy and our United States Constitution for the people. As part of our mission, we are committed to promoting, through legal actions, secure, transparent, trustworthy and accessible voting systems for all voters.
[2] http://suffolkcounty-ny.elaws.us/code/coor_apps_cha_artiv_seca4-12
[3] Id.
[4] http://suffolkcounty-ny.elaws.us/code/coor_apps_cha_artiv_seca4-14
[5] NYS Gen. Mun. Law Art. 5-A. Pub. Contracts, available at: https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._general_municipal_law_article_5-a
[6] NYS Gen. Mun. Law Art. 5-A. Pub. Contracts § 100-A available at: https://newyork.public.law/laws/n.y._general_municipal_law_section_100-a
[7] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMiZRvS2_mQ
[8] See: https://ogs.ny.gov/Award-23198-CI