Established Fact
Private election technology contractors — including electronic poll book (EPB) providers such as KnowInk, ballot printing companies, and EMS configuration vendors — play critical roles in the deployment and operation of election infrastructure while operating entirely outside state and federal open-records laws. Because they are not governmental entities, public records requests cannot generally compel production of their internal communications, system logs, or configuration records. This FOIA-proof operational layer means that the entities with direct access to voter data, poll book systems, and election management configurations operate without the transparency obligations imposed on the public officials nominally responsible for elections.
Citations
KnowInk is a private company providing electronic poll book (EPB) systems used by counties in Michigan and other states. EPB providers like KnowInk often operate under contracts with county election offices or as subcontractors through voting system vendors, creating layers of private intermediaries in election administration. KnowInk, “About,” available at: https://www.knowink.com/about (company description of poll book deployment services).
Private election technology contractors, including ballot printing companies, EPB providers, and EMS configuration vendors, are generally not subject to state or federal FOIA/open-records laws because they are not governmental entities. Public records requests directed to counties often cannot compel production of vendor records, internal communications, or system logs held by private contractors. See generally Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty (WILL), “Finger on the Scale” (2021) at pp. 1–5 (discussing FOIA-proof nature of private election operatives), available at: https://will-law.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/WillLawFINGER-ON-THE-SCALE.6.pdf.
Michigan Secretary of State, Voting System Purchase and Support Contacts (listing private vendors — including ElectionSource for Dominion, and others for ES&S and Hart InterCivic — as support contacts for Michigan counties’ voting systems), available at: https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/admin-info/voting-system-purchase.