ELECTION SUPPLIES AND RELATED SERVICES
RFP#40-000-14-00046
STATE OF NEW MEXICO
Election Supplies and Related Services
RFP# 40-000-14-00046
Issue Date: March 21, 2014
Proposal Due Date: April 29, 2014
AMENDED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. INTRODUCTION 1
A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS 1
B. SCOPE OF WORK 1
C SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT 1
D. PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT 2
E. DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGY 2
G. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 6
H. PROCUREMENT LIBRARY 7
II. CONDITIONS GOVERNING THE PROCUREMENT 8
A. SEQUENCE OF EVENTS 8
B. EXPLANATION OF EVENTS 8
C. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 14
III. RESPONSE FORMAT AND ORGANIZATION 21
A. NUMBER OF RESPONSES 21
B. NUMBER OF COPIES 21
C. PROPOSAL FORMAT 21
IV. SPECIFICATIONS 24
A. INFORMATION 24
B. BUSINESS SPECIFICATIONS 24
V. EVALUATION OF PROPOSALS 30
A. EVALUATION POINT SUMMARY 30
B. EVALUATION FACTORS 30
C. EVALUATION PROCESS 32
APPENDICES 34
APPENDIX A. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT FORM 35
APPENDIX B. CONTRACT TERMS AND CONDITIONS 36
APPENDIX C. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION DISCLOSURE FORM 51
APPENDIX D. LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL FORM 54
APPENDIX E. NEW MEXICO EMPLOYEES HEALTH COVERAGE FORM 55
APPENDIX F. PAY EQUITY REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 56
APPENDIX G. RESIDENT VETERANS PREFERENCE CERTIFICATION 57
APPENDIX H. PROPOSAL COST RESPONSE FORMS 58
SUMMARY COST RESPONSE FORM H-1 59
DETAIL COST RESPONSE FORM H-2 60
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ELECTION SUPPLIES AND RELATED SERVICES
RFP#40-000-14-00046
I. INTRODUCTION
A. PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The New Mexico Secretary of State’s office is seeking proposals from qualified offerors to establish Statewide Price Agreement(s) for the preparation, production and delivery of certain election supplies, including, but not limited to, certain ballot products, forms and envelopes to support absentee voting, federal and overseas voting, voter registration, election certificates, voting notices, and instructions, in English and Spanish, as well as ballot tabulator coding for certain voting systems, coding of certain system used by disabled voters, and related services for the Office of the Secretary of State and the county clerks of the state for Primary, General and Special Elections. In addition the Price Agreement(s) may be used for other non-statewide elections conducted by local public bodies including municipalities, school or special districts occurring during the term of the Price Agreement(s).
B. SCOPE OF WORK
Upon receipt and acceptance of a valid Purchase Order, the Contractor shall timely design, produce and distribute all specified (delete required) election related supplies, ballots and ballot products for ES&S M100 voting systems and AutoMark units, as well as any specialty products or services required by the Secretary of State or local public bodies. If specified in a Purchase Order, the Contractor shall timely provide election ballots and ballot tabulator coding for ES&S M100 tabulators and ensure the compatibility of the printed product with the M100 tabulation equipment utilized in the state. The Contractor shall create audio and language translation files for the ES&S AutoMark American with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Help America Vote Act (“HAVA”) compliant voter assist devices utilized within the state.
Please refer to Appendix B, Paragraph 2 for more details regarding the scope of work.
C SCOPE OF PROCUREMENT
This Request for Proposals (RFP) competitive solicitation may result in a multiple source award to one or more Offerors whose proposal may include one or more subcontractors. Subcontractors may be proposed by multiple Offerors. Payments shall be made to only the Contractor. The Contractor shall be responsible for all contractual performance. A Procuring Agency may procure election supplies or services listed in Contractor’s Product and Services Schedule (PSS) during the term of the Price Agreement.
The Price Agreement(s) shall begin on July 1, 2014 or as soon as possible thereafter for a term of four years. At the time of issuance this RFP is not intended to procure ballots, ballot coding of removable storage media for any Dominion voting systems in use in the state. However, if it in the best interest of the state to do so, the Secretary of State reserves the right to add ballots and ballot coding of removable storage media for Dominion voting systems to the PSS at some future date.
D. PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT
The Agency has designated a Procurement Manager who is responsible for the conduct of this procurement. Questions about this solicitation shall be addressed to the Procurement Assistant as follows:
Mary Quintana Terry Davenport
Procurement Manager Procurement Assistant
Office of the Secretary of State Office of the Secretary of State
325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300 325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501
Telephone: (505)827-3636 Telephone: (505) 470-1428
Fax Number: (505) 827-8081 Fax Number: (505)827-8081
E-mail: Email:
Any inquiries or requests regarding this procurement should be submitted to the Procurement Manager or Procurement Assistant in writing. Offerors may contact ONLY the Procurement Manager or the Procurement Assistant. Other state employees and contractors do not have the authority to respond on behalf of the Agency.
E. DEFINITION OF TERMINOLOGY
This section contains definitions that are used throughout this procurement document, including appropriate abbreviations.
“ADA” means the Americans with Disabilities Act.
“Agency” means the New Mexico Office of Secretary of State.
“Agreement Administrator” means the individual appointed by the SPA to manage the Contract resulting from this procurement.
"Ballot" means a system for arranging and designating for the voter the names of candidates, constitutional amendments and other questions to be voted on and for the marking, casting, or otherwise recording of such votes, and the term includes absentee ballots, provisional paper ballots and all other paper ballots.
“Close of Business” means 5:00 PM Mountain Standard or Mountain Daylight Time, whichever is in effect on the date given.
“Contact Person” means the name and contact information of the person named in the Purchase Order who is responsible for receipt and acceptance of Products and/or Services listed in the Purchase Order.
“Contract” means any agreement for the procurement of items of tangible personal property or services derived from an RFP. For this RFP the term “Contract” shall mean “Price Agreement”.
“Contractor” means the successful offeror who is awarded a Price Agreement resulting from this RFP.
“Core Team Personnel” means the staff provided by a Contractor or a Subcontractor. Core Team Personnel will include at a minimum a Senior Project Manager, a Customer Service Manager, a Technical Manager and the Offeror’s company executive with the responsibility for the overall performance of the Contract. Core Team Personnel may appear on-site at the Office of the Secretary of State and at the office of the county clerks or Voting Convenience Centers or other locations designated in a Purchase Order.
“Deliverable” means any measurable, tangible, verifiable outcome, result, or item that must be produced to complete a Purchase Order or part of a Purchase Order.
“Desirable “D” or Highly Desirable “HD”—The terms “may,” “can,” “should,” “preferably,” or “prefers” identify a desirable or highly desirable discretionary item or factor (as opposed to “mandatory”). Highly desirable specifications, if any, may receive greater consideration during the evaluation of proposals than desirable specifications
“Determination” means the written documentation of a decision of a procurement manager including findings of fact supporting a decision. A determination becomes part of the procurement file to which it pertains.
“DFA” means the Department of Finance and Administration for the State of New Mexico.
“Employer” means any for-profit or not-for-profit business, regardless of location, that employs one or more persons that qualify as a “New Mexico Employee”. Such definition does not include governmental entities.
“Evaluation Committee” means a body appointed by the Agency management to perform the evaluation of offeror proposals.
“Evaluation Committee Report” means a report prepared by the Procurement Manager and the Evaluation Committee for submission to the Agency management and the State Purchasing Agent for approval for Contract award that contains all written determinations resulting from the conduct of a procurement requiring the evaluation of competitive sealed proposals.
“Finalist” is defined as an offeror who meets all the mandatory specifications of the Request for Proposal and whose score on evaluation factors is sufficiently high to qualify that Offeror for further consideration by the Evaluation Committee.
“HAVA” means the Help America Vote Act.
“Hourly Rate” means the rate to be charged to the Procuring Agency for services rendered which includes any/all travel, per diem or any other expenses incurred for the performance of services at the Procuring Agency headquarters, at the office of a County Clerk or the location of the local public body that issued the Purchase Order. The hourly rate does not include New Mexico Gross Receipts Tax.
“Mandatory” The terms “must,” “shall,” “will,” “is required,” identify a mandatory item or factor (as opposed to “desirable”). Failure to meet a mandatory item or factor will result in the rejection of the offeror’s proposal.
“New Mexico Employee” means any resident of the State of New Mexico, performing the majority of their work within the State of New Mexico, for any employer regardless of the location of the employer’s office or offices.
“Offeror” is any person, corporation, or partnership who chooses to submit a proposal.
"Precinct Board" or "Poll Workers" means the appointed election officials serving in a single precinct, a consolidated precinct, an absent voter precinct or an alternate voting location.
"Price Agreement" means a definite quantity contract or indefinite quantity contract which requires the contractor to furnish items of tangible personal property (election supplies or ballot tabulator coding) or Services to the Procuring Agency which issues a Purchase Order.
“Prime Contractor” means a Contractor who has full responsibility for coordinating, controlling and fulfilling of all aspects and requirements set forth in Purchase Order including products or services provided or performed by any Subcontractor(s). The Prime Contractor will be the sole point of contact with the Agency relative to Contract performance, shall be the signatory to the Contract, and is responsible for the overall performance of the Contract.
“Procurement Manager” means the person or designee (procurement assistant) authorized by the Agency to manage or administer a procurement requiring the evaluation of competitive sealed proposals.
“Procurement Distribution List” means a list for potential Offerors who have submitted “Acknowledgement of Receipt of Request for Proposals Form” found in Appendix A. The Procurement Distribution List will be used for the distribution of written responses to questions and any RFP amendments.
“Procurement Library” means a repository of documents and/or links to documents that contain information the Agency believes may be helpful for the Offeror for the preparation of a Responsive Proposal.
“Procuring Agency” means the New Mexico Office of Secretary of State and/or New Mexico County Clerks who choose to use the Statewide Price Agreement(s) as well as municipalities, school boards and other local public bodies for use for non-statewide elections.
“Product” shall mean election supplies including but not limited to, certain ballot products, forms and envelopes to support absentee voting, federal and overseas voting, voter registration, election certificates, voting notices, and instructions, in English and Spanish, ballots plus ballot tabulator coding for ES&S M100 ballot tabulators and AutoMark devices, training materials or other items of tangible personal property developed by or delivered by the Contractor to the Procuring Agency under the terms and conditions of the Contract. "Product" also includes audio and language translation files for the ES&S Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and Help America Vote Act (“HAVA”) compliant voter assist devices utilized within the state.
“Product and Services Schedule or "PSS" refers to a complete list, grouped by major product categories, of the election supplies and services, media and documentation offered by the contractor and filed with the Agency. The PSS contains, at a minimum, the item number, item description and the maximum price or Hourly Rate for each item of Product or Service.
“Professional Services” means the definition in Procurement Code Section 13-1-76 NMSA 1978 as further defined by the April 25, 2007 memorandum titled “Professional Services Determination” issued by the State Purchasing Agent. For this RFP Professional Services includes ballot creation and ES&S ballot tabulator coding as well as the creation of all audio and language translation files for the ES&S ADA and HAVA compliant voter assist devices utilized within the state.
“Program Manager” means and executive-level employee of the Office of the Secretary of State who has the overall responsibility for planning, coordinating and managing statewide elections throughout the State of New Mexico.
“Purchase Order” means the document issued by a Procuring Agency that directs the Contractor to deliver items of tangible personal property or services in accordance with 13-1-71 NMSA 1978. A Purchase Order shall contain at a minimum the list and number of Products to be provided, the location where the products will be delivered, the list and location of services to be rendered, the date of delivery of both products and services the total price to be paid plus the name and contact information of the individual who will receive and accept the Products and Services.
“Request for Proposals” or “RFP” means all documents, including those attached or incorporated by reference, used for soliciting proposals.
“Responsive Offer or Responsive Proposal” means an offer or proposal that conforms in all material respects to the requirements set forth in the request for proposals. Material respects of a request for proposals include, but are not limited to, price, quality, quantity or delivery requirements.
“Responsible Offeror” means an offeror who submits a responsive proposal and who has furnished, when required, information and data to prove that his financial resources production, or service facilities, personnel, service reputation, and experience are adequate to make satisfactory delivery of the services or items of tangible personal property described in the proposal.
“Services" as defined by the April 25, 2007 memorandum titled “Professional Services Determination” issued by the State Purchasing Agent refers to “Printing/Duplicating service. For this RFP services shall include ballot and other election document printing and delivery.
“State (the State)” means the State of New Mexico.
“State Purchasing Agent” or “SPA” means the purchasing agent for the State of New Mexico or a designated representative.