Addendum One - ATTACHMENT A - Terms and Conditions - RFI 758 1900000027.pdf

Addendum #1 (July 1, 2019) RFI 758 1900000027:

Modification to correct the service dates on Commodity Line 1.

COMMONWEALTH OF KENTUCKY

Request for Information (RFI)

For

Electronic Election Ballots for Kentucky Retirement Systems Solicitation # RFI 758 1900000027

Date of Solicitation Release: July 1, 2019 Closing Date and Time: August 2, 2019 at 3:30PM EST

Issued by The Finance and Administration Cabinet

On Behalf Of Kentucky Retirement Systems

Commonwealth Buyer:

Jenifer Taylor, KCPM

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CABINET

Office of Procurement Services

New Capitol Annex

702 CAPITOL AVE RM 096

FRANKFORT KY 40601

(502) 564-6522

Fax: (502) 564-6013 Jenifer.taylor@ky.gov mailto:Jenifer.taylor@ky.gov

I. Introduction

House Bill 80 (Regular Session 2019) amended Kentucky Revised Statute 61.645 to allow the

KRS Board of Trustees to conduct trustee elections by electronic ballot. Beginning with the

CERS Trustees in January 2021, members will have the ability to cast votes electronically.

Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS) is looking for a company to provide election services for our Board of Trustees (Board) elections. Elections should be administered using a digital option via online voting and a paper option administered through traditional mail. Transparency of election procedures and results is of the utmost importance.

This RFI contains preliminary information to serve as a platform for reaction and discussion with the vendor community. The requirements in this RFI are in no way final or represent what may be contained in an RFP. This issuance does not constitute a commitment to issue a bid or award a contract or to pay any costs incurred in preparation of a response to this request. Furthermore, the Commonwealth requires that all responding vendors abstain from providing any quotes or bids in response to this RFI.

II. RFI Process This RFI is being issued by the Finance and Administration Cabinet, Office of Procurement Services.

The Commonwealth is seeking your input through a written response.

Written Responses and Inquiries All responses, questions and inquiries concerning this RFI should be directed in writing to the Commonwealth Buyer of record for this RFI.

Jenifer Taylor, KCPM

FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION CABINET

Office of Procurement Services

(502) 564-6522 Fax: (502) 564-6013

From the issue date of this RFI until the responses are due, vendors shall not individually communicate with any Commonwealth staff concerning this RFI except as referenced above.

Interested parties are encouraged to submit any questions in writing to the buyer of record given above. Written questions are due on July 15, 2019 at 3:00 pm ET. The Commonwealth will respond to questions in an addendum to the RFI on or before July 19, 2019.

RFI responses are due on August 2, 2019 at 3:30 pm ET. Respondents shall submit one (1) marked original hard copy response and one (1) response on thumb/flash drives (in Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel or PDF format ONLY). Do not include embedded documents, hyperlinks or hyperlinks to videos hardcopy.

The outside cover of the package containing the response to this RFI is to be marked:

Electronic Election Ballots for Kentucky Retirement Systems

RFI 758 1900000027

Name of Respondent

III. General Requirements

The next election for KRS’ County Employees Retirement System (CERS) will be conducted May 2020 through March 2021. CERS has a membership population of approximately 250,000. Ballots must be available no later than January 20, 2021 (for paper ballots, this is the date by which they must be mailed to membership). Electronic votes must be cast and paper ballots must be postmarked by March 1, 2021. Vendor must certify the election results and the accuracy of results in writing. Written results of the election must be provided to KRS by March 15, 2021. At a minimum, written results should include the total number of votes each candidate received, the total number of ballots cast online, and the total number of paper ballots received. Results should also include the number of invalid ballots received. KRS will provide information on what constitutes an invalid ballot.

Regardless of voting method, ballots must be unique to each voting member. Vendor must be able to ensure voters are only allowed to vote one time during an election. Vendor must ensure that votes cannot be altered or manipulated after they are cast.

Currently, Kentucky Retirement Systems does not have a unique electronic balloting system in place and are seeking vendors to provide information about the balloting options provided by their company.

The Vendor should address the following issues “at a minimum” as they prepare a response to this

RFI:

Firm information Name of company Address/Telephone Number Contact Person Brief History of company Length of Time in Business Firm Brochures, Literature if available Experience with Electronic ballots for public and private entities.

How should the RFP be structured so as to insure that the Respondents and the Commonwealth understand what is required for Electronic ballots for public and private entities?

What kind of statistics, documentation, information, etc. will be necessary for the Commonwealth to furnish to the successful Respondent? What will be the impact on the program if some or all of this information is not readily available or not available?

What goals should the Commonwealth seek to achieve by establishing Electronic Ballot Services?

What should the criteria be in the RFP for the Commonwealth to evaluate a successful Electronic Ballot Provider? What guarantees, if any, should a Respondent be prepared to give on its final product?

What kind of experience with Electronic Balloting should be required of Respondents if the Commonwealth issues a RFP?

What kind of reference requests would be helpful to the Commonwealth in understanding the financial condition and ability of the Respondents?

What is an estimated price range for Electronic Balloting? What are the assumptions made for this estimated price?

How should payment to the successful Respondent be structured? What kind of documentation should be required of a Respondent when submitting bills for payment?

What kind of information and or reports should the Commonwealth expect to receive during the term of each Election cycle?

How should the evaluation of potential RFP Responses be conducted?

Are there any further clarifications or additional areas for discussion to be included?

How long would it take to prepare a response to a Request for Proposal for Electronics Ballots?

Agency Responsibilities

KRS will provide a listing of members who will receive paper ballots and members who will receive electronic ballots. For those receiving paper ballots, vendor must be able to accept a secured, electronically generated address file (see layout below). Vendor must generate electronic and paper ballots according to specifications below and must be able to meet timeline outlined below.

Electronic Ballot Specifications

Must include candidate profile(s) or provide link to this information.

Must allow for write-ins.

Must be branded with KRS logo.

Vendor will allow KRS to review the online ballot for accuracy by January 5, 2021.

KRS will authorize or identify corrections to online ballot, on or before January 8, 2021.

Depending on results, the online ballot may need to be reviewed an additional time.

Would prefer ability to interface with KRS website, so that members are able to log into the KRS website and then be redirected to vendor’s election site.

Option to send email reminders to voters who have not submitted their electronic ballot within 15 days of the voting deadline.

Paper Ballots

Must reflect KRS supplied (vendor printed) Board Election Ballot Letter content.

KRS will submit address file to vendor by December 28, 2020.

Vendor will provide a proof of the ballot to KRS by January 5, 2021.

KRS will review proof and authorize printing, or identify corrections, on or before January 8, 2021. Depending on results, a second proof may be requested.

Paper Ballot and Envelope Specifications

KRS supplied (vendor printed) Board Election Ballot Letter: 8.5 x 11; 60 lb. text; B&W; and page count determined by number of candidates. KRS will review and authorize paper ballot printing.

Address File Layout (typically CVS or text format)

Please note, this file could be altered to include email ballots or a separate file may be provided with email addresses.

FIELD SIZE COMMENTS

LABEL NAME 40 FIRST MIDDLE LAST

ADDRESS

LINE 1

ADDRESS

LINE 2

CITY 25

STATE 2

ZIP CODE 9

Delivery Point 2

BATCH CODE 1 A-for address

COUNTRY

CODE

if field is blank then it is US or it could be US.

IV. Response Format The purpose of this section is to describe the format the vendors should use in responding to this RFI.

The Commonwealth is very interested in your comments, ideas and opinions concerning the most cost effective and efficient methods for obtaining responses from qualified vendors to provide Electronic Balloting for Kentucky Retirement Systems’ elections.

The Sections that should be included in your response to the RFI are:

Transmittal Letter The transmittal letter should be in the form of a standard business letter and should be signed by an individual authorized to bind the vendor. It should note if any proprietary information has been included and the name, address, phone number, fax number and E-mail address of the vendor’s contact.

Response Itself The Response should address the specific questions raised above, as well as give the requested information on the Respondent firm. Please provide hard responses with sections organized in the same order as the RFI. Sections need to be labeled with the section headers used in the RFI.

In addition, please feel free to make any comments, observations, or suggestions that may assist the Commonwealth in its decision to draft a Request for Proposal, and the contract terms that may result from the Request for Proposal.

Proprietary Information The vendor should place all confidential data, in order, under separate cover clearly marked confidential. All data should be titled and reference the question the information is related to.

Demonstrations:

As a part of this Request for Information, KRS may invite respondents to demonstrate the proposed products. If demonstrations are requested, all respondents will be invited.

V. Additional Information

Responses may be subject to Kentucky Open Records Law pursuant to the provisions of KRS 61.870

et. seq.