The state has terminated its contract with KNOWInK after it says the company failed to meet timelines and contractual standards.
The State of Pennsylvania terminated its contract earlier this month with a firm tasked with modernizing its voter registration system, citing the contractor’s inability to adequately address issues with the system.
The state had contracted KNOWiNK, an election software company, to replace the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors (SURE) system, which manages the voter registration information of more than 8 million Pennsylvania voters. The SURE system stores the data of every legitimate, eligible voter, but there were problems with the system, according to an election official.
The Pennsylvania State Department terminated the contract on Dec. 4, stating in a letter sent to members of the Pennsylvania County Board of Elections that KNOWiNK would not adequately address “identified deficiencies” in the new SUREVote system meant to replace the current software.
Jonathan Marks, Pennsylvania’s deputy secretary for elections and commissions, sent the letter.
Questions about the progress of improving the SURE system have routinely come up in Senate hearings and in the halls of the state capitol. The letter verified the work was behind schedule. It described how over the course of nine months the State Department worked with KNOWiNK, trying to correct the course of the project, “including procuring expert mediation and project management services, bringing on the expertise of a chief modernization officer, and collaborating with our vendor to address Pennsylvania’s contractual project standards,” the letter reads.
“This administration has made the successful completion and implementation of the SUREVote System a priority … Unfortunately, the Department has concluded that the vendor will not meet … timelines and contractual standards,” the letter states.
The State Department said it would find another vendor to do the work. It will take time to write and approve a new request for proposals, vet, and hire a new vendor.
In his letter, Mr. Marks stressed several times that the decision to end the contract would not affect the 2024 election.
But former State Rep. Frank Ryan is questioning the move. A longtime certified public accountant, Mr. Ryan left his seat in the Pennsylvania House last year specifically to work on election security, believing he could have a bigger effect on public policy outside the legislature than from within.
“If I were chair of an audit committee, I’d ask, is there an incentive on the part of the Democratic Party to kill the changes to the SURE System until they get to the next presidential election?
By Beth Brelje
