How Are Governments Influencing How You Vote?
With early voting underway across much of the U.S., we thought it was time for us to weigh in on how to vote. No, not as in which candidate you should support.
Almost two years to the day of our initial report on investment in infrastructure, supplies, and support for elections, ‘What do State, Local, and Federal Agencies Need to Support Elections?, we have found that government agencies, throughout the country, continue to spend many $millions for securing, managing and carrying out elections.
As the midterms approach, how busy are local and state elections officials? In a word, massively. At this moment, every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, all 435, and there are contests underway for 35 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats.
It’s no small secret that numerous interests spend a lot of money on elections. From candidates, to PACs, to political parties, and many within and beyond, the amounts can be staggering. OpenSecrets.org provides one estimate that nearly four $billion is spent to fund and influence elections.
Who else is working hard during the election cycle?
Government agencies and elections officials. Below, in ‘RELATED BIDS/RFPs’, those examples represent just a miniscule fraction of the number of relevant active bids/RFPs at this moment.
If you have heard the news, you understand that cybersecurity has become a staple of elections management. Amongst a wave of information and reports, The Hillreported today, ‘Security firm finds county election websites lack cybersecurity protections’, that there are still gaps in ensuring the security and credibility of the election process.
As with every problem, some are tackling the problem better and more proactively than others. We have seen purchasing activity for cyber-related solutions grow enormously in the past 365 days. Some of these targeted directly at safeguarding the elections process.
In addition, it comes as no small surprise that the past twelve months has seen a significant uptick in the number of elections and voting-related bids. With virtually every imaginable item and service up for bid, there have been close to 600 “election” and “voting” bids / RFPs. The procurement activity has not been isolated to a particular region. We have identified solicitations from literally across the country.
RELATED BIDS/RFPs
Get out and vote. Again, we are going to steer clear of championing one candidate over another. However, there is one thing upon which we can all agree. Do your research, learn and decide upon the candidates, exercise your right and Go Vote!
To see more information on the bids / RFPs, and to check out the related solicitation docs, call us at 888.808.5356 or visit BidPrime.