Justification_and_Approval_20150713.pdf

Ver: Jan 2015

Justification and Approval For

Other Than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Agency: Defense Human Resource Activity- Procurement Support Office 4800 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, Virginia, 22350.

2. Authority Cited:

10 U.S.C.2304(c)(1), FAR 6.302-1 -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

3. Description of Supplies and Services: The Federal Voting Assistance Program requires Congressional District classifications based on user provided zipcode+4 designations for qualified voters to complete their ballots on FVAP’s online Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot wizard. FVAP retrieves candidate information from an Application Programming Interface (API) administered by VoteSmart, that provides federal candidates based on user provided zipcode+4 designations. In order for FVAP’s online assistant to continue to operate properly and support the federal elections, FVAP needs to update its local database of zipcode+4 data from a vendor to reflect the same information provided by VoteSmart’s API.

4. Description of Action: A Firm fixed price contract is planned for this effort. The period of performance will include a 12-month base period and two 12-month option periods.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

52 USC 20303(2)(B) requires FVAP to “…utilize technology to implement a system under which the absent uniformed services voter or overseas voter may… enter the address of the voter or other information relevant in the appropriate jurisdiction of the State, and the system will generate a list of all candidates in the election for Federal office in that jurisdiction…” FVAP’s initial and subsequent redevelopment of this technology used the web service API through VoteSmart, the only national nonpartisan nonprofit that provides FVAP’s required civic information based on this supporting zipcode+4 dataset. All of the corresponding zipcodes in VoteSmart’s database use data from Aristotle, Inc as its source file.

VoteSmart’s API provides critical information to operate FVAP’s online assistant. This requires the local candidate database source retained by FVAP to maintain continuous operation of FVAP’s online assistant. FVAP requires an exact one-to-one match to VoteSmart’s API to support FVAP’s effort to provide functional redundancy to avoid service disruption. To design and build a system that does not rely upon VoteSmart’s API could cost the Government an additional $200,000 in Government and contractor personnel to manually research and input candidate information required by the law. Therefore, FVAP’s reliance upon VoteSmart’s API, their associated relationship with Aristotle, demonstrates that no other provider can ensure FVAP’s continuous operation of the online assistant.

Ver: Jan 2015

Thus this requirement cannot be met through full and open competition. There are no like/similar products that meet the requirements of this acquisition.

6. Effort to Obtain Competition:

The FVAP has conducted market research and found that no other provider can support zip code+4 information interface with Project Votesmart on a national level besides Aristotle, Inc.

FVAP bases its criteria on the limited costs to integrate and support code used to leverage VoteSmart’s web service API and their arrangement for using Aristotle, Inc.’s source file.

7. Effort to remove barriers to/increase competition:

Future competition will not be possible until FVAP’s online wizard is either modified to remove integration with VoteSmart’s API ( at a greater expense to the Government) or VoteSmart locates a new service provider other than Aristotle. FVAP will continue, however, to monitor the marketplace to identify any new sources that may arise that can meet this requirement. For all new requirements, FVAP will conduct a thorough market research to ensure Government specifications will be written to identify and removes barriers to completion so that competition can be obtained to the maximum practicable extent.

8. Market Research:

FVAP again reviewed the marketplace to determine mine whether other qualified sources capable of meeting the Government’s needs exist. No other provider can achieve FVAP’s objectives as these objectives are driven by the external relationship between VoteSmart and Aristotle.

9. Interested Sources: Aristotle Industries

10. Other Factors:

Florida's Supreme Court recently that the state's congressional map was illegally gerrymandered and ordered the Republican-controlled Legislature to redraw eight congressional districts, including two of the state's most contested battleground seats.

The Legislature will have to redraw districts represented by Democratic Reps. Corrine Brown, Kathy Castor, Ted Deutch, and Lois Frankel, and Republican Reps. David Jolly, Mario Diaz- Balart, Carlos Curbelo, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Lawmakers will have to submit the new map to the state Supreme Court for approval. By necessity, the redraw will affect neighboring districts as well, throwing virtually the entire Florida map into flux prior to the 2016 federal elections.

FVAP will require this service to meet these changes.