Hauling of voting machines for St. Martin Parish

The Louisiana Secretary of State's office is seeking a contractor to provide drayage services for voting machine transportation in St. Martin Parish, with the procurement being an Invitation to Bid (ITB) for election equipment logistics. The primary scope involves transporting approximately 109 voting machines across 43 precincts using only enclosed trucks or trailers, with strict requirements for delivery and retrieval timing. Bidders must deliver and set up voting machines at polling places between 7:00 am and 8:00 pm the day before elections, return machines within 48 hours after polls close, and provide emergency election day delivery services within 20 minutes of notification. Key qualifications include the ability to obtain precinct registers from the Parish Registrar and manage voting machines weighing approximately 265 pounds each and valued at $6,000. The sealed bid submission is due by 10:00 am CST on January 6, 2025, with the contract term running from the date of award through December 31, 2025, and an option to renew for two additional 12-month periods. Evaluation will likely include compliance with detailed transportation, insurance, and bonding requirements.

Contractors are subject to significant restrictions, including a limit of serving parishes with an aggregate total of no more than 1,000 voting machines or four parishes, whichever threshold is reached first. Bidders must provide a bid bond or guaranty of 5% of the total bid amount, and if awarded, a performance bond of 1.5 times the contract price. Comprehensive insurance coverage is mandatory, including workers' compensation ($100,000 per person minimum), public liability ($100,000 per person), bodily injury liability ($300,000 per occurrence), property damage liability ($50,000 per occurrence), and auto liability ($500,000 combined single limit). While no specific disadvantaged enterprise set-aside is mentioned, the detailed requirements suggest a competitive bidding process open to qualified transportation and logistics providers. For private elections and demonstrations, the contract allows for double the standard rate with a guaranteed minimum of three machines. Though the exact contract value is not specified, the complexity of requirements and the number of voting machines suggest a significant procurement opportunity for the selected vendor.