Warning that the September primary and November general election might otherwise be in jeopardy, the state procurement office has allowed the state Office of Elections to immediately resume preparations to use new voting machines.

The determination late Monday afternoon allows the elections office to proceed with a contract with Hart InterCivic for paper eScan and electronic eSlate voting machines.

The contract is being challenged by Election Systems & Software, which submitted a lower bid, and a state administrative hearings officer is expected to rule sometime after mid-July.

But rather than wait for the ruling, Aaron Fujioka, the state procurement officer, found that the state had to act by Monday — the last day of the fiscal year — to ensure that state money for the contract does not lapse. Each day that passes, he found, also creates a cascading effect on the ability of the elections office to train election officials, prepare ballots and test the new machines.

"Election preparations have been resumed," said Kevin Cronin, the chief elections officer. "That means Hart and the Office of Elections' staff are working closely to prepare for the elections, primarily now conducting precinct training sessions."

The Office of Elections announced earlier this year that it had awarded Texas-based Hart a $43.4 million contract to provide voting machines through the 2016 elections, with an option for the 2018 elections. ES&S, a Nebraska-based firm, bid $18.1 million for the contract and filed a challenge claiming that Hart's proposal was unreasonably high.

The ES&S challenge automatically triggered a stay on the contract.

In May, the procurement office denied a request by Cronin for a procurement law exemption so the state could give a temporary contract to Hart for voting machines for this year's elections while the challenge from ES&S is being heard.

But the procurement office subsequently lifted the stay on the Hart contract after Cronin argued that time was running out to have new machines ready.

In June, however, the administrative hearings officer reviewing the ES&S challenge vacated the lifting of the stay, which essentially stopped work again.

Fujioka, in his determination on Monday, found that the delay "places at great risk the voters' right to an efficient and effective statewide election.

"The delay also resulted in lost training time for officials, voting machine testing and ballot preparations, leading to poor and inadequate precinct training that compromises the voter education and election process."

Fujioka found that there is a substantial state interest — conducting the elections — that justifies lifting the stay.

Rodney Maile, the senior hearings officer at the state Office of Administrative Hearings, said he could not comment other than to say that the hearings officer will issue a decision on the ES&S challenge shortly.

Terry Thomason, an attorney representing ES&S, said the firm held the voting machine contract with the state before the Hart award and could not in good faith take any further action at this point that would jeopardize the elections. He said the firm will file closing briefs with the hearings officer and await the final decision on the challenge.

"They care about the welfare of the voters. They care about the integrity of the election. And they're not going to do anything that would jeopardize it," he said.