Unisys to replace Va. voter system

Unisys will implement a voter registration system for Virginia voters under a contract with the Virginia Information Technologies Agency. VITA officials awarded the contract on behalf of the state's Board of Elections.

The contract, worth up to $8 million, includes a year for implementation, a year for support and then five one-year options for ongoing support.

The new Virginia Election and Registration Information System will replace the state's 25-year-old registration system. The system is part of Virginia's plan to comply with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, which requires each state to establish and maintain a single, central, uniform, official and interactive computerized statewide voter registration database.

Unisys officials plan to use software called FirstTuesday, developed by Quest Information Systems. A company called Aradyme is also on the contract, aiding in database conversion.

Unisys employees will also provide training for state and local elections officials.

The Unisys solution is designed to help state legislatures redraw district boundaries. It includes redistricting modeling that can predict the likely election outcomes if voting boundaries are moved.