RFP - Election Management System for Harris County Clerk's Office

Harris County, Texas is seeking proposals for an Election Management System for the Harris County Clerk's Office through a Request for Proposal (RFP) posted on May 8, 2026, with proposals due by June 22, 2026 at 2:00 P.M. local time in Houston. A pre-proposal conference is scheduled for May 19, 2026 at 1:00 P.M. via Microsoft Teams. The County seeks to replace its current VEMAS platform with a comprehensive, turnkey election management system that will support the complete election lifecycle, including election management, voter and location management, election workforce support, results and reporting, security and compliance, and integration with external systems such as voter registration databases, pollbook platforms, and GIS mapping tools. The contract term shall commence on or about September 1, 2026 for twelve months, with Harris County retaining the option to renew for four additional one-year periods. Vendors must demonstrate a minimum of five years of experience implementing election management systems for similarly sized government entities, provide at least three relevant public-sector references, and submit a Cybersecurity Technical Questionnaire. All work, including data processing, system development, support, and hosting, must be performed within the United States with no offshore services permitted. The County anticipates deployment project initiation in the first quarter of 2026 with a targeted go-live in early to mid-2026. Evaluation criteria are weighted as follows: Scope of Service/System Functionality (30%), Integration and Reporting (25%), Experience and Training (10%), Implementation and Support Services (10%), Project Team and References (10%), Vendor Presentation/Demo (5%), and Pricing (10%), with Cybersecurity Controls as a pass/fail requirement. Vendors must provide comprehensive technical support during regular business hours (8:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. CST, Monday through Friday) with extended coverage during election periods and a minimum of twelve months of maintenance and support following final system acceptance.

While the RFP documents do not indicate specific set-aside designations for disadvantaged enterprises, vendors may receive evaluation consideration if they hold HUB/MWBE or Section 3 certifications, though this is not a requirement. All contractors and subcontractors must comply with Harris County's Minimum Wage Policy, which requires payment of $21.65 per hour (adjusted annually), and must meet comprehensive insurance requirements including Workers' Compensation, Commercial General Liability of $1,000,000 per occurrence/$2,000,000 aggregate, Automobile Liability of $1,000,000 combined single limit, Umbrella/Excess Liability of $1,000,000, and Professional/Errors & Omissions Liability of $1,000,000. Vendors must also comply with mandatory IT security vendor controls, maintain required cybersecurity certifications, implement multi-factor authentication, ensure data encryption, and establish incident response procedures. Harris County reserves the right to award the contract to a single vendor or multiple vendors as deemed in the County's best interest, with award contingent upon approval by Harris County Commissioners Court, certification of funds by the County Auditor, and issuance of a Purchase Order. If the awarded vendor uses subcontractors and the total proposal exceeds $25,000, a payment bond equal to 100% of the proposal amount must be obtained within ten days of award. Payments will be made on a milestone or progress basis with monthly invoices accompanied by progress reports and project schedules. The RFP documents do not specify a budget range or award value, but pricing must follow a fixed, all-inclusive fee model with detailed breakdowns including costs for election management system, project management, hardware/equipment, installation, system configuration, data migration, travel, training, maintenance, support, warranty, third-party software, and additional interfaces or licenses.