- Title or Description
- Elections Department
- FOI Number
- 2024623
- Date Received
- 18/06/2024
- Type of Request
- FOI
- Request or Question
-
Voter Registration System* Please provide the name and provider of your voter registration system?
* When did you acquire the voter registration system?
* What was the capital cost of the voter registration system?
* Is the VR system on-premise or cloud-based?
* What is the yearly maintenance cost of the voter registration system?
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the voter registration system.
Election Management System
Please provide the name and provider of your elections management system.
* What year did you acquire the elections management system?
* How long is the contract?
* What was the capital cost of the elections management system?
* Is the EM system on-premise or cloud-based?
* What is the yearly maintenance cost of the elections management system?
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the elections management system.
Polling Station Management
Do you use any hardware/software device for managing your polling stations?
If you use a polling station management system please answer the following questions:
* What is the name of the company that provides it?
* When did you acquire the polling station management system including hardware/ software and services?
* Was the acquisition of the polling station management system the subject of a tender or pilot program?
* What was the capital cost of the whole system including any breakdown for hardware/ software/ services and yearly maintenance cost ?
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the polling station management system?
Mobile Public Engagement Software
Do you provide any public engagement mobile apps or services for elections? if so can you provide:
* What is the name of the company that provides it?
* When did you acquire the system including hardware/ software and services?
* Was the acquisition of the polling station management the subject of a tender or pilot program?
* What was the capital cost of the whole system including any breakdown for hardware/ software/ services and yearly maintenance cost ?
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the polling station management system?
Canvass Technology
Can you provide a detailed description of any technologies you use for the canvass process including tablets, software, and suppliers of these systems
General Department Questions
Can you provide a segmented systems and services budget for all services used by the elections department for an entire parliamentary and local government election cycle including money spent on information printing for local and parliamentary elections?
Can you supply a summary of helpdesk tickets/calls placed with each hardware, software, and services supplier to the elections department for the last 5 years? - Response
-
1) Voter Registration System
* Please provide the name and provider of your voter registration system. The name and provider (for all questions) cannot be placed into the public domain for the following reasons.
Section 30 - The information that was requested is covered by the exemption at section 30: Prejudice to Effective Conduct of Public Affairs of FOISA. This exemption protects sensitive information related to government operations and advice.
Section 31 The information that was requested is covered by the exemption at section 31: National Security and Defence - This exemption is related to national security and defence.
Both are qualified exemptions, and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it, then the exemption does not apply, and the information must be released. In FOISA there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.
The balance of the public interest has found in favour of withholding information covered by the sections 30 and 31 exemptions. Considerations in favour of the releasing the information included consideration of public interest in transparency and accountability and disclosure of information about Scottish Borders Council procedures and commercial outsourcing contracts.
However, release of this information would make a key system used in the delivery of Scottish Borders Council more vulnerable to threat actors; namely, a malicious attack on Scottish Borders Council computer system and potential for targeted threat actor attacks against any known vulnerabilities. Damage to this system could affect adversely the Authority s ability to conduct their duties in parliamentary and electoral registrations. As such release of this information would be seen to prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs and national security and defence, by making Scottish Borders Council computer systems more vulnerable to hacking, therefore facilitating the possibility of a targeted attack being carried out. There is an overwhelming public interest in keeping Scottish Borders Council computer systems secure which would be served by non-disclosure. This would outweigh any benefits of information release. It has therefore been decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the information on this occasion. Please note that this decision does not imply that you intend to engage in any of these activities. However, as the Freedom of Information Scotland Act is an open access regime, this exemption has been applied to protect Scottish Borders Council systems.
* When did you acquire the voter registration system? The system was provided by our outsourced computer service CGI in 2016.
* What was the capital cost of the voter registration system? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* Is the VR system on-premise or cloud-based? On-premise.
* What is the yearly maintenance cost of the voter registration system? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the voter registration system. The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
2) Election Management System
Please provide the name and provider of your elections management system. CGI provide our Election Management System through their Managed Service Provision to the council. Please refer to exemptions relied on for Q1.
* What year did you acquire the elections management system? The system was provided by our outsourced computer service CGI in 2016.
* How long is the contract? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* What was the capital cost of the elections management system? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* Is the EM system on-premise or cloud-based? On-premise
* What is the yearly maintenance cost of the elections management system? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the elections management system. The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
3) Polling Station Management
Do you use any hardware/software device for managing your polling stations? Yes, we do.
If you use a polling station management system please answer the following questions:
* What is the name of the company that provides it? Please refer to exemptions relied on for Q1.
* When did you acquire the polling station management system including hardware/ software and services? 2016.
* Was the acquisition of the polling station management system the subject of a tender or pilot program? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* What was the capital cost of the whole system including any breakdown for hardware/ software/ services and yearly maintenance cost ? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the polling station management system? The information requested is held by the Council s outsourced IT provider (CGI). As such, this information is not held, and we give notice under s17 of FOI(S)A.
4) Mobile Public Engagement Software
Do you provide any public engagement mobile apps or services for elections? No, we do not.
If so can you provide:
* What is the name of the company that provides it?
* When did you acquire the system including hardware/ software and services?
* Was the acquisition of the polling station management the subject of a tender or pilot program?
* What was the capital cost of the whole system including any breakdown for hardware/ software/ services and yearly maintenance cost ?
* Please provide a copy of the current active contract with the supplier of the polling station management system?
5) Canvass Technology
Can you provide a detailed description of any technologies you use for the canvass process including tablets, software, and suppliers of these systems. The Electoral Registration Officer deploys a tablet solution via an application that sits within the system used.
General Department Questions
Can you provide a segmented systems and services budget for all services used by the elections department for an entire parliamentary and local government election cycle including money spent on information printing for local and parliamentary elections? Scottish Borders Council does not have an elections department.
Scottish Borders Council does not have a systems budget as explained previously our computing systems and services are outsourced.
The Electoral Registration Officer does not have a budget specific to elections. For the last UKPGE, the ERO spent c 2500 on Voter ID flyers.
Can you supply a summary of helpdesk tickets/calls placed with each hardware, software, and services supplier to the elections department for the last 5 years? Scottish Borders Council does not have an elections department. The Electoral Registration Officer has overarching responsibility in terms of the management of the system used. Tickets raised with the provider by the Electoral Registration Officer are (on average) c100 per year.
For the avoidance of doubt, CGI do not hold any information on our behalf. It is their contract not ours. They bought the application and then make it available to us as part of the overall manged service they provide.
