By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Ocean Pines Association has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a contractor to handle this summer’s OPA Board of Directors election.

The selected vendor will print and mail ballots and election materials such as candidate biographies, photographs, an annual meeting notice, and ballot instructions to all eligible voters.

The election must also be conducted in both paper and electronic formats and the chosen company is responsible for emailing ballots and voting documents.

OPA will provide the third-party vendor with the names, physical addresses, and email addresses of all eligible and ineligible voting homeowners.

The RFP stipulates that contractors must include a “description of their methodology for identifying and addressing ‘duplicate votes’ (paper and electronic) from a voter “ in the proposal.

The vendor must also host a virtual count via Zoom or other technological means so that homeowners can be provided with as much transparency of the tabulation process as possible.

The contractor will not announce the election results upon the completion of ballot counting. Rather, the RFP explains, the selected company will report the findings to the OPA Elections Committee, which reserves the right to certify and release the outcome.

The RFP goes on to explain that “a fixed price agreement for a three-year term (payable in annual fixed amounts for each annual election) will be entered into with the contractor awarded this work” and that “the contract with the selected bidder must be approved (and authorized to be signed) by the HOA Board, and must fully executed before there will be any binding agreement between the HOA and the selected bidder. In this regard, the HOA reserves all rights to negotiate and make changes to the contract as it sees fit and add terms and conditions in that process, subject to approval by the contracting bidder.”

The vendor will be paid upon “successful completion” of the election services. The contract is complete when all legal records, ballots, and return envelopes are delivered to the OPA Elections Committee as required by the chosen company.

The RFP says a selection will be made no later than April 15.

The community’s upcoming election will see three board seats up for grabs: the ones held by current OPA Board of Directors President Stuart Lakernick, Treasurer Monica Rakowski, and Director Steve Jacobs.

Candidate applications must be submitted no later than May 10. The election will be held in August, and totals will be announced the Thursday before the annual meeting, which is hosted on the second Saturday of August each year.

Last year, the community hired the Pittsburgh-based MK Election Services to handle the governing body’s 2024 voting cycle for $26,335.

While the board, which approved the selection in a 6-1 vote, with Jacobs as the dissenting voice, agreed the price was high, the members said the company’s observable count offering was essential.

Once again, the selected company must provide an observable count in the OPA 2025 Board of Directors Election.