The Pulaski County Election Board is arranging tech support for this year’s election cycle.
Board members agreed last week to keep using DeGroot Technology as its Election Day IT contractor.
Clerk JoLynn Behny said the cost will remain at $2,500 per election, and the money is in the election board’s budget.
Board members Patty Sullivan and Jessye Gilley voiced their support. “I feel safe having somebody that’s done it,” Sullivan said.
Gilley added that DeGroot has proved valuable during recent elections. “They were busy all day, so it’s not like they’re making $2,500 to sit here, for sure,” Gilley said.
The arrangement was first put in place during the 2018 election cycle, due to uncertainty about the county’s in-house IT Department. It’s since been disbanded, and DeGroot is in the process of handing over the county’s overall IT contract to Roeing IT Solutions. The contract for Election Day support will likely go to the county commissioners for final approval on February 3.
Meanwhile, Behny said the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office is offering cyber security protection from FireEye. “The state is offering this free to us for three years, and they are actually offering it to the whole county,” Behny explained. “I do think this is something else that we need to bring before the commissioners.” Behny planned to learn more about FireEye during a webinar this past Wednesday.
The election board also approved a $12,000 payment to voting machine vendor MicroVote for this year’s maintenance agreement.
