Secretary of State announces campaign, election upgrades

The Secretary of State's Office has announced plans intended to upgrade both the state's voter registration and campaign-reporting systems.

A $4.6 million contract was awarded to Convansys Corp. and PCC Technology Group to build a statewide voter registration system for Nevada.

The Help America Vote Act approved by Congress in 2002 mandated that each state have statewide voter registration in place by January 2006. The majority of the contract will be paid by federal funds.

Secretary of State Dean Heller said the Convansys/PCC bid was selected because they have successfully implemented similar systems in four other states. In addition, he said they offered the lowest bid price.

The statewide system will replace the independent voter registration systems now operated by each of Nevada's 17 counties and enable creation of a central database of all voters in the Secretary of State's Office.

At the same time, Heller rolled out an electronic system for Nevada candidates to use in reporting contributions and expenses. The system will allow candidates, political action committees and ballot advocacy groups to file their reports electronically and online.

Those reports are required by Nevada law and made public.

The final contribution and expense report for this election season is due in Heller's office Jan. 17.

The new system doesn't require an Internet connection to use. Heller said candidates and groups can get a CD with the program from his office and load the software onto their computer.

More information is available at the Secretary of State's Office, 684-5705, or by contacting the elections division by e-mail at nvselect@sos.nv.gov.