Election Boards deploy BIO-key biometrics to authenticate poll workers and volunteers

BIO-key revealed today that more County Election Boards in Florida have selected its biometric authentication solutions to enhance the identification and authentication process for staff members and volunteers managing the voting process for the 2019 regional elections and the 2020 presidential election.

Last year Brevard and Collier County were the first Florida County Election Boards to deploy BIO-key technology and now additional counties in the state are following suit. BIO-key reports that it has begun to receive election security inquiries from across the nation.

BIO-key’s election security solution is designed around its ID Director for Windows software, which integrates with Microsoft’s Active Directory and manages access to networked resources. ID Director for Windows is compatible with fingerprint readers qualified by Microsoft to support the biometric sign-in platform in Windows 10. Some Election Boards have chosen to use BIO-key’s PIV-Pro, a FIPS compliant fingerprint scanner, as well as its EcoID fingerprint scanner.

“BIO-key has a long-standing track record of providing strong biometric security solutions for government clients,” says Mike DePasquale, BIO-key chairman and CEO. “We are extremely proud to be extending our work to securing state and Federal election data and anticipate further growth in this area. It is vital for the country to maintain the integrity of our election process, which has become increasingly reliant on computers and the internet, despite the inherent cyber risks.”

The U.S. Government has been increasing the funding available for election security initiatives. Last March, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 created the Help America Vote Act Election Security Fund, providing $380 million of Federal funding to improve states’ administration of federal elections. And earlier this month, the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Bill was amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee to provide $250M in additional funding for county and state election boards to upgrade technology, improve cybersecurity and help prevent future cyberattacks.

In other company news, BIO-key announced it has received a continued listing deficiency notice from The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC because its share price has not met the $1.00 minimum closing bid price requirement for 30 consecutive trading days. According to a company statement, this notice has no immediate effect on the company’s Nasdaq listing or the trading of its common stock.

BIO-key has until March 23, 2020 to regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement. If at any time during the compliance period, the closing bid price of BIO-key’s common stock is at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of ten consecutive trading days, Nasdaq will provide a written confirmation of compliance and the matter would be resolved.

If BIO-key does not regain compliance within the initial compliance period, it may be eligible for an additional 180-day compliance period if it meets the market value of publicly held shares requirement for continued listing, all other initial inclusion requirements for The Nasdaq Capital Market, except for the bid price requirement, and provides written notice of a plan to regain compliance during the second 180-day compliance period.

CEO DePasquale noted; “We are confident in BIO-key’s outlook, and we expect to address this deficiency during the compliance period. Our optimism is rooted in the ongoing, strengthening interest in and deployment of biometric solutions across the diverse market segments that we serve.”

This summer BIO-key raised $2.55 million in a private placement of a Senior Secured Convertible Note to repay outstanding debts and use for general working capital purposes. The company’s second quarter revenue was down 2.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.

Article Topics

BIO-key  |  biometrics  |  elections  |  fingerprint authentication  |  identity verification