Emergency and Important Notification Texting Solution

The Maryland State Board of Elections (SBE) is seeking a comprehensive emergency and important notification texting solution for the statewide 2026 elections, designed to support communication across all 24 local election jurisdictions. The procurement aims to acquire a flexible texting platform that can effectively disseminate critical election-related information to the election community and general public while fully complying with Maryland State laws and regulations. Key deliverables include a robust texting system capable of rapid, widespread communication during emergency situations and for providing important election-related notifications. The solution must be fully implementable before the 2026 elections, with capabilities to integrate seamlessly across multiple local jurisdictions. The contract opportunity was posted on July 6, 2025, with proposals due by August 1, 2025, indicating a relatively tight procurement timeline of approximately four weeks for potential vendors to develop and submit their responses.

While specific set-aside designations are not explicitly outlined in the provided documentation, the procurement appears open to technology vendors specializing in communication solutions for government and election management contexts. The texting solution must demonstrate comprehensive compliance with Maryland's legal and regulatory framework for election communications. No incumbent vendors or existing infrastructure details are specified in the current contract opportunity description. The procurement suggests a statewide implementation scope, which implies potential significant investment, though exact budget ranges are not disclosed. Prospective vendors will likely need to demonstrate technical capabilities, security protocols, scalability, and proven experience in delivering mission-critical communication solutions for large-scale public sector election environments. The solution's ability to support emergency and informational texting across all 24 Maryland local election jurisdictions will be a critical evaluation criterion.