Arkansas Will Review Election Systems

Arkansas Secretary of State Charlie Daniels announced today that he has requested an independent review of issues encountered during Tuesday's primary elections. InfoSENTRY Services Inc., of Raleigh, N.C., will analyze the process utilized in the procurement, set-up and execution of Tuesday's primary elections.

According to news reports, at least two counties -- Lonoke and Phillips -- have not finished their counts. Phillips county had trouble downloading the count from some machines, and is using the state-mandated paper trail to finish up. Lonoke had a programming glitch.

InfoSENTRY is an independent information technology services firm based in Raleigh, N.C. The company has nationwide election systems project experience with a specialized background in HAVA-related project activities.

The company will conduct a performance review of Elections Systems & Software, the state's voting equipment vendor. The review will include information gathered from ES&S, the Secretary of State and county officials. A full report is anticipated by June 30.

InfoSENTRY company president Glenn Newkirk assisted the Secretary of State in drafting the state's request for proposals on new voting equipment in 2005 and helped ensure the proposals fulfilled requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act and Arkansas state law.

Daniels plans to appoint a committee comprised of representatives of the groups responsible for elections to evaluate InfoSENTRY's report and to plan the implementation of measures to assure that in November the state does not encounter the same problems experienced during the primary elections.