This is a solution to the problem of more pork for vendors.
Any one wanting to understand why any of these changes occurs will be illuminated by better understanding the business models of the vendors and the appropriations (budgets) of the jurisdictions.
During the HAVA bonanza, which brought us the touchscreens, vendors envied high tech valuations, so repackaged themselves as product companies.
When that fad went bust (market saturation), vendors repackaged themselves as service companies. With a big difference from their prior incarnation. Changing from time & materials to charging a fee for every task for every voter every election.
Before, you'd buy ballots for expected turnout plus 10%.
Now, (with vote-by-mail) you buy the whole ballot packet, for every voter every election.
Before, you'd pay 10 cents for every voter signature verified.
Now, you pay for signature verification services for every voter every election.
It's astonishing how each and every step of the process has been monetized (rent seeking).
--
Huh. It just now occurs to me there's probably a better way to summarize the business practices of the vendors:
Just imagine what IT vendors like Oracle do to maximize revenue applied to election administration.
Any one wanting to understand why any of these changes occurs will be illuminated by better understanding the business models of the vendors and the appropriations (budgets) of the jurisdictions.
During the HAVA bonanza, which brought us the touchscreens, vendors envied high tech valuations, so repackaged themselves as product companies.
When that fad went bust (market saturation), vendors repackaged themselves as service companies. With a big difference from their prior incarnation. Changing from time & materials to charging a fee for every task for every voter every election.
Before, you'd buy ballots for expected turnout plus 10%.
Now, (with vote-by-mail) you buy the whole ballot packet, for every voter every election.
Before, you'd pay 10 cents for every voter signature verified.
Now, you pay for signature verification services for every voter every election.
It's astonishing how each and every step of the process has been monetized (rent seeking).
--
Huh. It just now occurs to me there's probably a better way to summarize the business practices of the vendors:
Just imagine what IT vendors like Oracle do to maximize revenue applied to election administration.