JOFOC - SAM Posting.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Identification of the Requiring and Contracting Activities

Requiring Activity: U.S. Census Bureau, Deputy Director for Data, Policy, and Science Contracting Activity: U.S. Census Bureau, Acquisition Division

2. Nature and Description of the Proposed Action

The U.S. Census Bureau (USCB) intends to issue a sole-source, firm-fixed-price contract to Labels & Lists Inc. (L2) to acquire current and historical raw and enhanced voter registration data. L2 is the only responsible source, and no other supplies or services will satisfy the requirements of this action under the current circumstances. The estimated contract value is $950,000.00 for a period of performance of 12 months from the date of award.

3. Description of the Supplies or Services Required

Under 13 U.S.C. §6, the USCB is authorized, within the scope of that provision, to acquire reports and information from governmental and private sources for the efficient and economical conduct of authorized census and survey activities. This authority supports acquiring suitable existing data rather than duplicating data collection efforts. This acquisition will support the USCB's administrative-records research and statistical programs, including the planning, testing, evaluation, and conduct of the Decennial Census.

The USCB requires the following four commercial data products covering all 50 states and the District of Columbia:

Current enhanced voter registration data.

Historical enhanced voter registration data beginning in 2014.

Current raw state voter registration data.

Historical raw state voter registration data beginning in 2012.

Both raw and enhanced data are required to distinguish original source information from commercially processed records. Historical snapshots, change tracking, and record-level versioning are essential to evaluating changes in individual records, maintaining data consistency, and conducting reliable longitudinal analysis.

The acquired data will support efforts to improve person- and address-level linkage, assess administrative-record coverage and quality, evaluate changes in records over time, and identify opportunities to improve statistical operations, reduce respondent burden, and achieve operational efficiencies.

The requirement includes nationwide data updates, documentation of data provenance and processing, and delivery of current data at expedited intervals. The Performance Work Statement (PWS) establishes the applicable technical specifications, delivery schedules, quality standards, and data restrictions.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

The statutory authority for the proposed noncompetitive acquisition is 41 U.S.C. § 1901, as implemented by Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO) 12.102(b) and the simplified procedures for commercial acquisitions under RFO 12.201-1.

5. Demonstration of the Proposed Contractor's Qualifications and Basis for Restricting Competition

The USCB requires the timely access to the data within an aggressive delivery timeframe to support ongoing research and analytical activities currently underway including the USCB’s administrative records research, evaluation, and operational testing requirements for the 2027 Census Test and ultimately the 2030 Census. The data are essential to evaluating and improving person-level matching rates, assessing the quality and reliability of administrative records, and determining where administrative data can appropriately be used, supplemented, or excluded from decennial census operations. Access to both raw and enhanced historical voter registration records will enable the USCB to conduct comparative analyses, validate matching methodologies, identify data gaps, and establish evidence-based criteria for administrative records use.

L2 is the only source capable of providing the specific data set for this unique requirement and meeting the USCB's mission-critical delivery schedule within the limited testing window preceding the 2027 Census Test. The data must be acquired, securely ingested, standardized, linked, and evaluated in sufficient time to inform test preparations and operational decisions.

Delays in data delivery would directly jeopardize the USCB's ability to complete these critical evaluations, limit opportunities to improve matching methodologies, and reduce the evidence available to support decisions regarding administrative records use or non-use. As the underlying data provider, L2 possesses the established data infrastructure, historical datasets, and proven delivery processes necessary to satisfy these requirements without delay. Relying on a data broker would introduce additional time requirements for data acquisition, preparation, validation, and integration, creating unacceptable risks that would jeopardize the USCB’s ability to meet the critical delivery schedule of this project. Accordingly, L2 is the only source capable of fulfilling the Government's requirements without jeopardizing critical program schedules.

Additionally, L2 is the only underlying data source identified through market research that possesses the combination of historical data, technical capabilities, and continuity necessary to satisfy the requirements within the delivery timeframe. L2 has verified that the data is unique and proprietary to L2 and cannot be obtained from any other source. As a result, other contractors cannot obtain provide the required data from L2 for resale or delivery to the Government under this requirement. This restriction, combined with the absence of another underlying data provider capable of satisfying the USCB's technical and delivery requirements, establishes L2 as the only identified source capable of performing the requirement.

The USCB has historically utilized enhanced voter registration data supplied by L2, establishing a baseline for ongoing research and longitudinal analysis. Maintaining consistency in the underlying data source is essential to preserving the validity and comparability of results across successive analysis. Transitioning to a different data source would leave unacceptable gaps rendering the information incomplete and introduce variations in source coverage, collection methodologies, record inclusion criteria, standardization and enhancement processes, and historical versioning. These differences could materially impair the USCB's ability to distinguish actual changes in data from differences attributable solely to a change in data providers. Such differences cannot be resolved through routine data normalization or reconciliation or within the condensed schedule for delivery. While formatting and certain field-level inconsistencies may be standardized, differences in historical record availability, source coverage, record retention, and methodologies used to identify, link, and enhance individual records cannot be fully identifiable or reproducible. Consequently, introducing a different underlying data source would create significant analytical uncertainty, require extensive additional validation, and jeopardize the reliability of comparisons in the data as required for this project. The use of the data sourced solely by L2 preserves the consistency necessary to evaluate changes across successive data vintages, protects the integrity of ongoing longitudinal research, and avoids introducing methodological differences that could undermine the USCB’s analytical findings.

Furthermore, L2 possesses technical capabilities that were not independently demonstrated by other vendors during market research. L2 refreshes its nationwide voter registration data approximately three to six times annually, aligned with state and local election-authority release schedules. Its products include change tracking and record-level versioning between data vintages, enabling the USCB to evaluate historical observations and changes in individual records over time. L2 also provides the capability to customize data refresh and delivery schedules to meet the specific mission requirements of the USCB. This flexibility is essential to ensure that current and historical voter registration data are available when needed to support time-sensitive research, longitudinal analysis, and critical statistical operations. By aligning data updates and deliveries with the USCB's operational schedules and analytical requirements, L2 enables the USCB to maintain data continuity, meet program milestones, and execute mission-critical activities without delays attributable to data availability. L2 maintains an established commercial interface for analyzing, purchasing, and exporting voter registration records and offers platform-agnostic delivery capabilities compatible with the Government's existing analytical environments. The market research did not identify another underlying data provider capable of independently furnishing the complete combination of these capabilities required by the USCB.

Direct contracting with L2 establishes accountability with the entity responsible for maintaining and delivering the underlying data, facilitates timely resolution of technical issues, and preserves continuity with the USCB's existing research datasets.

6. Efforts to Solicit Offers From as Many Potential Sources as Practicable

Based on the need for raw historical and current data, L2 is the only entity capable of meeting the requirement and soliciting other sources is not considered necessary nor practicable for this acquisition.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Price

Prior to award, the Contracting Officer will determine in writing that the proposed price is fair and reasonable using appropriate price-analysis techniques, which may include comparisons with other contracts, an Independent Government cost estimate, or available commercial market information.

8. Market Research Conducted and Results

In accordance with RFO 10, market research was performed commensurate to the size and complexity of the requirement including a review of the responses, sample-data submissions, and findings from prior competitive procurements for data and consultations with personnel familiar with data acquisitions. The market research findings combined with the Government's technical assessment and the established need to maintain continuity in data supports the determination that L2 is the only identified underlying data source capable of satisfying the USCB's complete requirements given the circumstances and nature of this acquisition. Additional Market Research results are provided within Section 5 of this Justification.

9. Other Facts Supporting the Proposed Acquisition

Not applicable.

10. Sources Expressing Written Interest

For this specific requirement, there were no sources which have expressed written interest in the procurement of this data.

11. Actions to Remove or Overcome Barriers to Future Competition

The USCB will continue to assess opportunities to promote competition in future acquisitions of voter registration and other commercial administrative-records products. These efforts will include updated market research to identify alternative data providers, evaluation of emerging commercial capabilities, and consideration of whether future requirements can be structured to permit competition without compromising data continuity, historical comparability, or the integrity of ongoing research. The USCB will also evaluate whether separate acquisition of raw data, historical records, enhancement services, or related technical capabilities could expand competition while satisfying its mission requirements. These efforts will inform future acquisition strategies and help determine whether the conditions supporting the present sole-source acquisition continue to exist.