The following is a statement from Verified Voting. For additional press inquiries, please contact aurora@newheightscommunications.com
PHILADELPHIA, PA (March 30, 2021) — Verified Voting today released “The Price of Voting,” a groundbreaking study by principal investigator Matthew Caulfield and a team of student researchers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Drawing on the largest single dataset of voting system purchasing agreements and contracts ever collected for public release, “The Price of Voting” analyzes voting machine purchases from 791 jurisdictions nationwide, covering some 50 million voters. The report underscores the overwhelming market dominance of three vendors, investigates the role of coalitions formed by local jurisdictions to negotiate pricing, sheds light on the high cost of annual licensing, support, and maintenance fees, and shows the impact of these costs on buyers’ behavior in the marketplace.
“Verified Voting is delighted to publish ‘The Price of Voting’ so this valuable report can find the audience it deserves,” said Mark Lindeman, acting co-director of Verified Voting. “The report provides unprecedented insight into voting machine vendors’ pricing strategies, and astutely combines quantitative analysis and case studies to make best use of the available data. Public officials preparing to acquire voting systems, and citizens concerned about voting system negotiations and contracts, will better understand the challenges after reading ‘The Price of Voting.’”
“The Price of Voting” is a follow-up study to “The Business of Voting”, which focused on the apparent lack of technological innovation in the election technology industry (as compared to other technology sectors). The new report provides additional analysis, showing how the long duration of voting systems contracts slows the pace of market change.
Verified Voting decided to publish ‘The Price of Voting’ after the Wharton Public Policy Initiative closed, so policymakers and the public can benefit from the research. Verified Voting preserved the report apart from small updates and copy edits. Opinions expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of Verified Voting.
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