Electronic Ballots for KRS Elections RFI

The Kentucky Retirement Systems (KRS) issued Request for Information (RFI) 758 1900000027 seeking vendor input on electronic balloting and election administration services for Board of Trustees elections across three retirement systems: the County Employees Retirement System (CERS) with approximately 250,000 members, the Kentucky Employees Retirement System (KERS) with approximately 140,000 members, and the State Police Retirement System (SPRS) with approximately 3,000 members. The RFI, released July 1, 2019, with written questions due July 15, 2019 at 3:00 PM ET and responses due August 2, 2019 at 3:30 PM EST, seeks comprehensive vendor feedback on election service structure, evaluation criteria, required experience, pricing assumptions, payment structures, and implementation timelines rather than formal bids or quotes. The procured services include both digital online voting and traditional paper ballot delivery, with ballots required to be available no later than January 20 of each election year, voting closing on March 1, and certified results due by March 15. Electronic ballots must include candidate profiles, write-in capabilities, KRS branding, website integration, and secure member authentication to prevent duplicate voting. Paper ballots must be printed on 60-pound text stock in black and white format and mailed securely to all members. The vendor must ensure ballot uniqueness, prevent vote alteration after casting, track email bounces with fallback paper ballot distribution, and provide comprehensive reporting including total votes by candidate, votes cast by method (electronic versus paper), and invalid ballot counts. Historical participation data shows CERS received 24,416 ballots (11% participation), KERS received 11,310 ballots (9% participation), and SPRS received 500 ballots (19% participation). Vendors must submit responses in hard copy and on flash drive in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PDF format only to the Finance and Administration Cabinet Office of Procurement Services in Frankfort, Kentucky.

The Commonwealth explicitly stated that this RFI does not constitute a commitment to issue a Request for Proposal, award a contract, or reimburse response preparation costs, and vendors are prohibited from submitting actual quotes or bids as part of their responses. No set-aside designations or restrictions on organization types responding to the RFI are specified in the available documentation, and no incumbent contractor or existing platform infrastructure requiring integration is identified, as KRS currently has no in-house electronic balloting system in place. The Commonwealth seeks vendor suggestions on optimal system structure and methods for increasing voter turnout and has indicated willingness to consider various authentication methods, with member ID available as a potential voter identifier. File transmission will utilize CSV or text formats through FTP, with vendors responsible for retrieving member lists and candidate information provided by KRS by specified deadlines. No specific budget ranges, contract award values, or pricing information is included in this RFI, as this is an exploratory information-gathering phase designed to inform the development of a future formal Request for Proposal. Responses are subject to disclosure under Kentucky Open Records Law, and the Commonwealth buyer is Jennifer Taylor, Kentucky Certified Procurement Manager, at the Office of Procurement Services, 702 Capitol Avenue, Capitol Annex Room 095, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601.