Hart InterCivic Inc. is a privately held United States company that provides election technologies and services to government jurisdictions. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Hart products are used by hundreds of jurisdictions nationwide, including counties in Texas, the entire states of Hawaii and Oklahoma, half of Washington and Colorado, and certain counties in Ohio, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Hart entered the elections industry in 1912, printing ballots for Texas counties. The company, formerly a division of Hart Graphics, Inc., was established as a subsidiary called Hart Forms & Services in 1989. In 1995, to better communicate its full scope of document management services, Hart Forms & Services changed its name to Hart Information Services, Inc. During the next five years, Hart Information Services rapidly expanded its market presence through the acquisition of three major election services providers: Texas County Printing & Services, Computer Link Corporation, and Worldwide Election Systems. Worldwide was the developer of the eSlate, Hart's direct recording electronic voting machine. The eSlate was specifically designed to accommodate the needs of voter with disabilities. It is not a touch-screen device, but uses a Select Wheel and digital push-button interface. The need for document management and election services continued to grow, and in 1999, the company spun off completely from Hart Graphics. In 2000, the company became Hart InterCivic Inc., reflecting its corporate mission to service the interactive relationship of Hart InterCivic, state and local governments, and the citizens they serve. In the mid-2000s Hart entered and then exited the Geographic Information Systems business by acquiring and then spinning back out Farragut Systems.
In July 2011, Hart received what Hart described as "a strategic investment" from H.I.G. Capital, in a transaction that Hart's advisors called an "acquisition." As of October 2012, the Board had five members: Gregg Burt, Chairman; Phillip Braithwaite, Chief Executive Officer; Neil Tuch, Managing Director, H.I.G. Capital; Jeff Bohl, Principal, H.I.G. Capital; and Amanda Kalin, Associate, H.I.G. Capital. HIG controls 3 out of 5 board seats. Two of the H.I.G. Directors that work for H.I.G., Neil Tuch and Jeff Bohl, have previously made contributions to presidential campaigns – Neil Tuch contributed to both the Obama and Romney campaigns prior to H.I.G.’s investment in Hart InterCivic, and Jeff Bohl contributed to the Romney campaign in 2011. As of October 2012, H.I.G. is the 11th largest of all the contributors to the Romney effort. H.I.G. counts Solamere Capital as a minor investor in one of its funds. Solamere Capital is an investment firm founded by Mitt Romney's, son, Tagg Romney, and Spencer Zwick, Mitt Romney's campaign finance chair and in which Mitt Romney's brother, Scott, and Mitt Romney's wife, Ann, and Mitt Romney himself has invested, and which is run by Tagg Romney. Solamere is not invested in the specific H.I.G. fund that has an investment in Hart InterCivic. As of June 2019, Gregg Burt owned 10.5% of Hart InterCivic, Inc., and 79.8% was owned by H.I.G Hart LLC, which was in turn owned by H.I.G. Capital.
A report commissioned by Ohio’s top elections official on December 15, 2007 has found that all five voting systems used in Ohio have critical flaws that could undermine the integrity of the 2008 general election.
Issues
During voting for the 2018 Texas general election, an Election Advisory was issued by the Director of Elections, Keith Ingram. Voters using the InterCivic eSlate voting machine could have their votes adjusted or flipped while on a summary page if the buttons were interacted with if the page was not fully rendered. The machines were in use in 82 counties in Texas during the 2018 election and have been certified for use in the state since 2009. Secretary Rolando Pablos later issued an additional Advisory, noting that "t is important for all voters in the 82 Texas counties utilizing the Hart Intercivic eSlate to understand that the voting machines are not malfunctioning, nor are they arbitrarily 'switching' the choices of voters who cast a straight-party ballot," citing a "disturbing trend" in the distribution of misinformation about the integrity of the machines and the election.
