HomeMy WebLinkAboutAUD VoteWA Consent Agenda
JEFFERSON COUNTY
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA REQUEST
TO: Board of County Commissioners
FROM: Brenda Huntingford,Auditor
DATE: November 6,2023
SUBJECT: AGREEMENT re: VoteWA Data Sharing Agreement; No Needed Funds; Jefferson
County Auditor
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
Sensitive data sharing agreement between the Washington Office of the Secretary of State,
Elections Division and Jefferson County. This is the first agreement that the OSOS and County
desire to enter into to comply with the provisions of RCW 39.34.240 and the policies of the Office
of Cybersecurity for VoteWA Category 3 or higher data shared between them.
ANALYSIS:
OSOS and thirty-nine (39) Washington state counties have collaborated together in order to
modernize, streamline, and improve the elections process through the development and
implementation of a statewide modern Elections Management Project(EMP) for the state of
Washington, known as VoteWA. This is an agreement between the product owner(OSOS) and the
customer(Counties of Washington State) Jefferson County. This agreement establishes the terms,
conditions and restrictions in which the County provides requested VoteWA data electronically to
the OSOS or OSOS provides requested data electronically to Jefferson County.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommend approval of the agreement.
REVIEWE BY:
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Mark McCauley, my Administrator Date
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VOTEWA DATA SHARING AGREEMENT
BETWEEN
THE WASHINGTON OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE, ELECTIONS DIVISION
AND
JEFFERSON COUNTY
This VoteWA Data Sharing Agreement(this "Agreement") is entered into by and between the
Washington Office of the Secretary of State, Elections Division (hereinafter referred to as"OSOS") and
Jefferson County(hereinafter referred to as"County").
WHEREAS, OSOS and thirty-nine(39)Washington state counties have collaborated together in order to
modernize,streamline, and improve the elections process through the development and
implementation of a statewide modern Elections Management Project (EMP)for the state of
Washington,commonly known as VoteWA; and
WHEREAS, RCW 39.34.240 requires public agencies to enter into a written agreement that conforms to
the policies of the Office of Cybersecurity when a public agency requests Category 3 or higher data (as
defined in policy established in accordance with RCW 43.105.054)from another public agency; and
WHEREAS, OSOS has requested and is receiving Category 3 or higher data from County through the
VoteWA system; and
WHEREAS,while OSOS and County are parties to an agreement setting forth their obligations and duties
with respect to the annual vendor maintenance and support costs of the VoteWA system,that
agreement does not address VoteWA data sharing between County and OSOS; and
WHEREAS,OSOS and County desire to enter into this Agreement to comply with the provisions of RCW
39.34.240 and the policies of the Office of Cybersecurity for VoteWA data shared between them.
NOW,THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and the mutual promises contained herein,OSOS
and County agree as follows:
1. PURPOSE
It is the purpose of this Agreement to establish the terms,conditions, and restrictions under which
County provides requested VoteWA data electronically to or OSOS provides requested VoteWA data
electronically to County. Both parties will receive and safeguard the data as set forth in this Agreement.
2. DATA TO BE SHARED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT; CLASSIFICATION OF DATA
County is providing OSOS with the VoteWA data listed below, classified by Category(as defined in OCIO
Policy"Data Classification Standard"):
Description of Data Category(1-4)
• Category 3: Voter Registration Records, including data specifically protected from
disclosure by law
o Signature Image
o Form images
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o Personal information about individuals(DLN SSN4)
o Registration source
o UOCAVA (Uniformed And Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act)status
o Email
o Phone number
o Language preference
o Registration information for voters under the age of 18
• Category 3: Ballot Issuance Records, including data specifically protected from disclosure
by law
o Signature Image
o Envelope Image
o UOCAVA (Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act)status
o Ballot issuance information for voters under the age of 18
• Category 3: Voter Pamphlet information
o Arguments or statements submitted to the secretary of state for publication in
the voters'pamphlet are protected until the submission deadline has passed or
all submissions have been received.
• Category 3: Information regarding IT infrastructure and security of computer and
telecommunications
o In order to implement system improvements, information regarding the elections
infrastructure may need to be discussed with the Vote WA governing bodies
during meetings and system improvement discussions.
3. PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE
The period of performance of this Agreement commences on the date it is executed by both parties (the
"Effective Date"),and automatically renews each year on the date that is the anniversary date of the
Effective Date.
4. DELIVERY OF DATA
The data shall be provided by the County to OSOS or by the OSOS to the County via secure file transfer.
Data will be secured using separate encryption and password protection from any used by the secure
file transfer tool.
S. DATA STORAGE AND HANDLING REQUIREMENTS
All data provided by the County will be stored by OSOS on secure servers with access limited to the least
number of OSOS staff needed to have access to the data for purposes of the VoteWA system and
elections management. Files received via secure file transfer will be removed immediately from the
secure file transfer tool once retrieved.
All data provided by the OSOS will be stored by the County on secure servers with access limited to the
least number of County staff needed to have access to the data for purposes of the elections
management. Files received via secure file transfer will be removed immediately from the secure file
transfer tool once retrieved.
6. SECURITY OF DATA
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OSOS and the County shall take due care and reasonable precautions to protect the data from
unauthorized physical and electronic access. OSOS and the County will strive to meet or exceed the
requirements of the OCIO policies and standards for data security and access controls, including OCIO's
"Data Sharing Policy,"to ensure the confidentiality,availability and integrity of all data shared.
7. NON-DISCLOSURE OF DATA; CONFIDENTIALITY
Neither party nor its officials, officers, employees,volunteers,or agents may disclose, in whole or in
part, any data covered by this Agreement,except as necessary to accomplish the express purposes of
this Agreement or as may be required or permitted by law. Both parties agree to maintain the
confidentiality of the data covered by this Agreement to the fullest extent required or permitted by law.
8. TERMINATION
Either party may terminate this Agreement with 30 days' prior written notice to the contract manager
for the other party listed in Section 12 of this Agreement; provided, however,that once data is accessed
by OSOS,this Agreement is binding as to the confidentiality, use of the data, and disposition of all data
received as a result of access, unless otherwise amended by the mutual agreement of both parties.
9. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
If a dispute arises between OSOS and County under this Agreement, both parties will make a prompt,
reasonable,good-faith effort to resolve the dispute by negotiation. If the parties fail to resolve the
dispute through negotiation,the parties will choose a mutually acceptable alternative dispute resolution
method. Such an alternative dispute resolution process must precede any judicial action, provided that
both parties mutually pursue such alternative dispute resolution promptly, reasonably and in good faith.
10. GOVERNANCE
This Agreement shall be construed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the state of
Washington, and the venue of any action brought hereunder shall be in the Superior Court for Thurston
County.
11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT
This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding of the parties and may be modified only by written
instrument duly executed by both parties.
12. CONTRACT MANAGEMENT
The contract manager for each of the parties is listed below and shall be responsible for and shall be the
contact person for all communications regarding this Agreement:
Contract Manager for County: Contract Manager for OSOS:
Brenda Huntingford Stuart Holmes
Director of Elections
Jefferson County Office of the Secretary of State
1820 Jefferson St 520 Union Ave.
Port Townsend, WA 98368 Olympia,WA 98501
Phone: (360)385-9358 Phone: (360) 725-5794
bhuntingford@co.jefferson.wa.us stuart.holmes@sos.wa.gov
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THIS AGREEMENT is executed by the persons signing below who warrant that they have the authority to
execute this Agreement.
County: OSOS:
Jefferson County Office of the Secretary of State
Signature Signature
Director of Elections
Title Title
Date Date
Approved as to form only:
October 25, 2023
Philip C. Hunsucker, Date
Chief Civil Deputy ProsecutingAttorney
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