Hart InterCivic honors Humboldt County for election innovation

Humboldt County’s election office drew national notice for a voting system that has been modernized in stages for nearly two decades, with Hart InterCivic technology helping move the county from eSlates and Judge Booth Controllers to ballot-on-demand printing and automated vote-by-mail processing.

The recognition came through the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s annual Clearinghouse Awards, known as the Clearies, which spotlight election offices for innovation, sustainability, outreach, cost-effectiveness, replicability and positive results. Launched in 2016, the program named 53 winners from a record 258 entries in 2025. The awards are tied to the Help America Vote Act of 2002 and are meant to identify practices other counties can copy.

For Humboldt County, the award reflected a modernization plan that unfolded in phases. A California staff report shows Phase 1 began January 17, 2007, with HART eSlates and Judge Booth Controllers. Phase 2 replaced optical scan units on May 14, 2012. Phase 3 added an automated vote-by-mail return-envelope sorting and scanning system on September 25, 2019. Phase 4, approved January 19, 2022, called for 15 Hart InterCivic Verity Print ballot-on-demand units.

That later phase listed a total system cost of $99,819.54, with a county match of $33,927.69. Humboldt also said it had been using ballot-on-demand units since November 2020 at its four-day voting sites, a change that let the county print ballots at the point of service instead of relying on a static stock of preprinted forms. County staff said the broader modernization effort was aimed at fully transitioning to the Voter’s Choice Act model by the November 2022 general election.

The timing gives the award added weight locally. Humboldt County election pages were already pointing voters toward the November 4, 2025 Statewide Special Election, and on May 4, 2026, the county reported finding 596 uncounted sealed ballots in a locked drop box. Officials said the ballots would not change the outcome, but the discovery underscored why election administrators continue to focus on sorting systems, secure handling and ballot tracking.

Ada County, Idaho, received its own National Clearinghouse Awards from the same program, reinforcing that Humboldt’s honor was part of a wider national review of election practices rather than a one-county distinction. For Humboldt, the concrete innovation is not a slogan or a plaque. It is the series of technology changes already embedded in how ballots are printed, received and processed across the county.