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Hart InterCivic Inc. is a privately held United States company that provides election technologies and services to government jurisdictions. Headquartered in
Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
, Hart products are used by hundreds of jurisdictions nationwide, including counties in Texas, the entire states of Hawaii and Oklahoma, half of
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
and Colorado, and certain counties in Michigan, Ohio, California, Idaho,Bonneville County, Idaho Selects Hart InterCivic as Elections Vendor
 Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina,North Carolina Voting Equipment
/ref> Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.


Company History

Hart entered the elections industry in 1912, printing ballots for Texas counties. The company, formerly a division of Hart Graphics, Inc., was established as a subsidiary called Hart Forms & Services in 1989. In 1995, to better communicate its full scope of document management services, Hart Forms & Services changed its name to Hart Information Services, Inc. During the next five years, Hart Information Services rapidly expanded its market presence through the acquisition of three major election services providers: Texas County Printing & Services, Computer Link Corporation, and Worldwide Election Systems. Worldwide was the developer of the eSlate, Hart's direct recording electronic (DRE) voting machine. The eSlate was specifically designed to accommodate the needs of voters with disabilities. It is not a touch-screen device but uses a Select Wheel and digital push-button interface. The need for document management and election services continued to grow, and in 1999, the company spun off completely from Hart Graphics. In 2000, the company became Hart InterCivic Inc., reflecting its corporate mission to service the interactive relationship of Hart InterCivic, state and local governments, and the citizens they serve. In the mid-2000s Hart entered and then exited the
Geographic Information System A geographic information system (GIS) consists of integrated computer hardware and Geographic information system software, software that store, manage, Spatial analysis, analyze, edit, output, and Cartographic design, visualize Geographic data ...
s business by acquiring and then spinning back out Farragut Systems.


Board of directors and ownership

In July 2011, Hart received what Hart described as "a strategic investment" from
H.I.G. Capital H.I.G. Capital, LLC is a global alternative investment firm with $69 billion of capital under management. Headquartered in Miami, Florida, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt capital, debt and equity capital to middle-market company, middle ...
, in a transaction that Hart's advisors called an "acquisition." As of July 2020, H.I.G. no longer listed ownership in the company on its website.


State reviews of election equipment


California TTBR

On August 3, 2007, California Secretary of State
Debra Bowen Debra Lynn Bowen (born October 27, 1955) is an American attorney and politician who served as the Secretary of State of California from 2007 to 2015. Previously, she was a member of the California State Legislature from 1992 to 2006. In March 20 ...
withdrew approval and then granted conditional reapproval of Hart InterCivic optical scan and
DRE voting machine A DRE voting machine, or direct-recording electronic voting machine, records votes by means of a ballot display provided with mechanical or electro-optical components that can be activated by the voter. These are typically buttons or a touchsc ...
s after a "top-to-bottom review" of California voting machines.


Ohio

A report commissioned by Ohio's top elections official on December 15, 2007, found that all five voting systems used in Ohio (including one made by Hart InterCivic) had critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election.


Issues

On July 13, 2006, Mr. William Singer brought a
qui tam In common law, a writ of ''qui tam'' is a writ through which private citizen, private individuals who assist a prosecution can receive for themselves all or part of the damages or financial penalties recovered by the government as a result of the p ...
complaint against Hart Intercivic, Inc. Mr. Singer worked as a computer technician for Hart from 2001 through early 2004 (at times as Hart’s only computer technician nationwide). Mr. Singer alleged in the complaint that Hart made false statements regarding the accuracy, testing, reliability, and security of its voting system. The machines were in use in 82 counties in Texas during the 2018 election and have been certified for use in the state since 2009. During voting for the 2018 Texas general election, an Election Advisory was issued by the Director of Elections, Keith Ingram. Voters using the InterCivic eSlate voting machine could have their votes adjusted or flipped while on a summary page if the buttons were interacted with if the page was not fully rendered. Secretary
Rolando Pablos Rolando Burgoa Pablos (born September 26, 1967) is an American executive, attorney, and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas. He was sworn in as the 111th Secretary of State of Texas on January 5, 2017. On December 6, 2018, Pablos ...
later issued an additional Advisory, noting that " is important for all voters in the 82 Texas counties utilizing the Hart Intercivic eSlate to understand that the voting machines are not malfunctioning, nor are they arbitrarily 'switching' the choices of voters who cast a straight-party ballot," citing a "disturbing trend" in the distribution of misinformation about the integrity of the machines and the election.


See also

*
Electronic voting Electronic voting is voting that uses electronic means to either aid or handle casting and counting ballots including voting time. Depending on the particular implementation, e-voting may use standalone '' electronic voting machines'' (also ...
*
Voting machine A voting machine is a machine used to record votes in an election without paper. The first voting machines were mechanical but it is increasingly more common to use ''electronic voting machines''. Traditionally, a voting machine has been defi ...
*
Election Assistance Commission The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) is an independent agency of the United States government created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA). The Commission serves as a national clearinghouse and resource of information regarding elec ...
*
National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...
*
Voluntary Voting System Guidelines The Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) are guidelines adopted by the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) for the certification of voting systems. The National Institute of Standards and Technology's Technical Guidelines D ...
* Certification of voting machines


References


External links


Hart InterCivic company websiteElection Technology Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hart Intercivic Geographic information systems Election technology companies Electronic voting companies