VotingMachineCompanies

Government Oversight: There is no federal agency that has regulatory authority over the elections industry according to Brian Hancock, spokesperson for the Federal Election Commission (FEC), and Jorge Martinez, spokesperson for the Department of Justice (DOJ). No agency or organization even has a complete list of voting machine companies. Using a rough estimate, there are about 70 voting machine companies worldwide, with at least 48 based in the U.S.. The FEC lists only 19, the Texas-based National Association of State Election Directors (NASED) lists 16 that are 'industry certified' (which are outmoded and voluntary guidelines), while the IFES Buyers Guide lists about 64 companies worldwide that appear to be engaged in electronic voting. Meanwhile there is one company that is 'flying under the radar' of both the FEC and NASED, that is the Bermuda-based Accenture (formally Andersen Consulting) that has the contract for the online military vote in 2004.

Ownership: There are no government standards or restrictions on who can sell and service voting machines and systems. Foreigners, convicted criminals, office holders, political candidates, and news media organizations can and do own these companies. It appears that these companies are dominated by members of the Republican Party and foreign investors. Jack Kemp, a former GOP candidate for vice president in 1996 and a possible candidate for Governor of California this year, is on the board of directors for Election.com, while Senator Chuck Hagel (R-NE) was the past president of the company (AIS) that counted the votes in his first election and an investor in the company (ES&S) that counted the votes in his second election. At least four companies are foreign-owned: Sequoia (UK), Accenture/Election.com (UK Bermuda), EVS (Japan), and N.V. Nederlandsche Apparatenfabriek (Netherlands). Election.com was formerly owned by Osan, Ltd., a Saudi Arabian firm. Many voting machine companies appear to share managers, investors, and equipment which raises questions of conflict-of-interest and monopolistic practices.

ORGANIZATIONS / COMPANY LISTS
(Note: I have found no complete list of vendors, lists must be cross-checked)

There are several organizations that are promoting electronic voting around the world. Many of these organizations appear to have strong ties to the Republican Party and the intelligence community (CIA, NSA, etc.)

Ace Project - "Three leading international organizations that provide electoral assistance have worked together to produce the ACE Electronic Publication. The project partners are the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES), the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs - http://www.aceproject.org/main/english/pi/pid04.htm
IFES - The International Foundation for Election Systems http://www.ifes.org Since 1987, IFES has supplied world governments with election observation and analysis and has developed into one of the world's leading centers of election information and resources. Comment: It appears that the organization was founded and is currently chaired by right wing members of the Republican Party (GOP), although they also have directors that come from the Democratic party. IFES funding comes from USAID that has historic connections to the CIA, according to reports (see red section below)
- Current FUNDING FOR IFES - 80% from U.S. gov't sources including USAID http://www.usaid.gov/about_usaid/ USAID's history goes back to the Marshall Plan reconstruction of Europe after World War Two and the Truman Administration's Point Four Program. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy signed the Foreign Assistance Act into law and created by executive order USAID.Since that time, USAID has been the principal U.S. agency to extend assistance to countries recovering from disaster, trying to escape poverty, and engaging in democratic reforms. Is IFES a business or advocacy organization? Finally, under the leadership of our Strategic Business Development division, we are com-mitted to broadening our valued partnerships with USAID, DFID, SIDA, FINNIDA, the UNDP and other funders.With our new strategic plan in place,IFES will offer more products with the same independent,responsive,research-based project development on which our partners have come to rely. http://www.ifes.org//biennial_low_PRINT.pdf
- It appears that IFES awards contracts - Controversy about the voter identification cards has continued. In early August, the U.S. based International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) took bids for which company would print the cards. In a move that angered many in Haiti, IFES gave the job to Code Canada. A consortium of Haitian businesses had also made a bid, and saw this as evidence of the conditional nature of foreign aid to Haiti’s democratic process. Perhaps it would make more sense for an agency training the officials of Haiti’s electoral system to award the job to a Haitian consortium, so that they could learn the process for future elections. http://quixote.org/haiti/archives/H31_conditions.html
- IFES / USAID / NED / CIA connections ? ?
  - http://www.hanitzotz.com/challenge/58/pangos.htm CIA & USAID / Palestine-Isreali conflict
  - http://www.freedomdomain.com/cia/mcgehee02.html CIA & USAID / Laos late 1960's
  - http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA/National%20EndowmentDemo.html NED & CIA
  - http://www.wmd.org/information.html NED and World Movement for Democracy
- IFES founder, the late F.Clifton White http://archives.ashland.edu/white.html ... is a longtime rightwing Republican strategist. In the 1950's he and William Rusher, publisher of the National Review, helped to turn the Young Republican National Federation, the GOP youth arm, from a moderate to a very conservative group. (18) White played an important role in the preconvention campaign of Barry Goldwater in 1964. (23) White was or is a member of The Conservative Network, a small group founded in 1985 by Reagan administration presidential appointees to bring the administration's conservative political philosophy into the private sector. (17) White is on the board of the National Republic Institute for International Affairs, the Republican Party's conduit for NED funding. (2) He is on the board of the Center for Democracy, a conservative group "working to promote and strengthen the democratic process. "(2) The Center for Democracy is heavily funded by NED. (28) White is also on the board of the John M. Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs. (2) http://www.publiceye.org/research/Group_Watch/Entries-71.htm
- http://www.namebase.org/gw/ifes.txt (dated) Excerpts - "It appears that the bulk of IFES funding comes from NED (National Endowment for Democracy) - see current funding below.(26) NED is a quasi- governmental organization conceived by the Reagan administration and funded by Congress to "promote democracy" overseas.(27) NED's funding comes from the U.S. government, primarily from the U.S. Information Agency and the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID).(2) The current focus of IFES work is in Nicaragua with Via Civica. ViaCivica, a grassroots electoral organization working on voter education and registration. It receives additional NED funding through the Costa Rican political/electoral training firm Counseling Center for Democracy (CAD). CAD receives NED funding for its work with Via Civica through the America's Development Foundation, another conservative "democracy building" organization.(27) According to Henry Quintero, who was hired by IFES specifically for the Nicaraguan project, IFES assists in Via Civica's electoral training and education work and provides them with materials such as flyers, bumper stickers, and the like.(28) Via Civica, through the CAD project SISTEMAS, provides a wide range of educational and election work, including election analyses and demographics, opinion polls, surveys, electoral training workshops, an election "hot line," and poll watching.(6) Via Civica claims to be nonpartisan but is closely associated with the Nicaraguan National Opposition Union (UNO), the U.S. backed coalition opposing the Sandinista government.(2) In a recent interview, Henry Quintero said that in addition to Nicaragua, IFES has election projects in Hungary, Namibia, India, USSR, and Paraguay.(28)F. Clifton White worked with CIA director William Casey on the Reagan administration's pro-contra propaganda network.(2) According to a November 1986 memo from Walter Raymond to National Security Adviser John Poindexter, White was to be in charge of the formation of a group modeled after the bipartisan cold war champion, Committee on the Present Danger, but focusing on Central America.(2) White and Richard Scammon of IFES lunched with the Soviet Central Election Commission to the U.S. during their November 1989 visit.(10)"
- William J. Hybl, Chairman - Bush appointee and senior adviser to the 56th UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY (2001) William J. Hybl is the Chairman and Chief Executive Office of the El Pomar Foundation, one of the largest foundations in the Rocky Mountain region. The El PQmar Foundation provides grants for programs in education, health care, the environment, amateur sports, human services, and the arts, with special emphasis on excellence in nonprofits. He also serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Broadmoor Hotel Inc. and President Emeritus of the United States Olympic Committee. In addition, he is a member of the International Olympic Committee and on the Board of Directors of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Olympic Foundation.In 1981, he served as Special Counsel to President Ronald Reagan. Mr. Hybl was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 1972 to 1973. Having received three consecutive presidential appointments, from 1992-1997, Mr. Hybl served as Vice- Chairman of the U.S. Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy http://www.un.int/usa/ga56_hybl_bio.htm Chairman and CEO of the El Pomar Foundation in Colorado Springs, CO, the largest foundation in the Rocky Mountain region; President of the United States Olympic Committee during four Olympic Games and member of the International Olympic Committee; former member of the Colorado House of Representatives and Assistant District Attorney of the Fourth Judicial District of Colorado; former U.S. representative to the U.N. General Assembly and special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. http://www.ifes.org//board.htm El Pomar is known as an extreme right wing group http://www.cat.org.au/a4a/fake29.html
- Paul DeGregorio, Executive vice president of IFES
  - Helped GW Bush win Florida - http://www.dailyillini.com/dec00/dec05/news/campus02.shtml
  - June 12, 2003 Bush nominates DeGregorio, IFES VP, to Election Assistance Commission (HAVA) http://www.ifes.org/pressroom/Press%20Releases/06_12_03_DeGregorio_EAC.pdf
  - http://www.newstribune.com/stories/011001/sta_0110010068.asp

Paul DeGregorio (BA 1992), International Expert on Elections and Director of UMSL, Outreach and Development, and Caroline Bean, Alumni Chapter President. University of Missouri - St. Louis http://www.umsl.edu/~polisci/2001reun.htm

The voting systems companies listed below seem to be in a constant state of changed names and/or ownership. Editor welcomes leads. Send to lynnlandes@earthlink.net

Update: http://www.theportlandalliance.org/2006/aug/election2006.htm "What is known about the company’s ownership, dug up by Harris, points to a twisty trail of criminality, conflict of interest and non-disclosure. In 1987 the Omaha World-Herald purchased 47 percent stake in the company, and the McCarthy Group bought 35 percent. The Omaha World-Herald, in turn, is owned by the Peter Kiewit Foundation. Harris contends that Kiewit is just about the last company that should have anything to do with an election system vendor. Kiewit and its subsidiaries have been involved in as many as 11 cases of bid-rigging on road contracts and state and federal highway projects. With convictions in Louisiana, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska, the companies have paid millions of dollars in fines. “Kiewit has connections with both ES&S parent companies and has a track record of hiding ownership when it wants to,” says Harris. “It has a powerful profit motive for getting the people it wants into office and it has broken the law in the past to achieve its goals.”"

To better appreciate the scope of the corporate takeover of the democratic process, here is Unisys's description of itself in the IFES Buyers Guide, "Unisys has successfully implemented national voter registration, identification, and integrated electronic election systems for Brazil (100 million registered voters), South Africa (20 million), Malaysia (10 million), Dominican Republic (4 million), Costa Rica (2 million), and Panama (2 million). Unisys has also successfully implemented Internet-based election results real-time reporting systems for Rome, Italy and for the State of Minnesota. In partnership with Election Systems and Software (ES&S), Unisys has successfully implemented in the United Kingdom multi-channel voting pilot test systems -including touch-screen voting, kiosk voting, postal voting, Internet voting, telephone voting, and digital television voting. Unisys has offices in more than 100 countries." http://www.ifesbuyersguide.org/detailtest.php?title=Regions&subtitle=Middle_East

Premier Election Solutions, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premier_Election_Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems, Inc. (DESI),a subsidiary of Diebold that makes and sells voting machines. In 2009, it was sold to competitor ES&S. Another subsidiary selling electronic voting systems in Brazil is Diebold-Procomp, with minor market share in that nation. In 2010, Dominion Voting Systems purchased the primary assets of Premier, including all intellectual property, software, firmware and hardware for Premier's current and legacy optical scan, central scan, and touch screen voting systems, and all versions of the GEMS election management system from ES&S. At the time ES&S spun off the company due to monopoly charges its systems were in use in 1,400 jurisdictions in 33 states and serving nearly 28 million people.

Aug 28, 03 - Vote Company Exec Joins Bush Re-Elect Effort "The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year." "The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. - who has become active in the re-election effort of President Bush - prompted Democrats this week to question the propriety of allowing O'Dell's company to calculate votes in the 2004 presidential election." by Julie Carr Smyth of Cleveland Plain Dealer Bureau http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/106207171078040.xml

Owners & staff: (Heavy Shoup influence. Unclear whether Van Pelt and Ensminger listed below are with BOTH Global and Shoup-Advanced Voting Solutions)

"VoteHere is a pioneer in developing secure e-voting technology that simplifies the election process, while adding increased security and reliability over traditional voting methods. Additionally, the cost of the election and voter appeal are equal considerations in adopting new election methods."

BELLEVUE, Wash. – Jan. 30, 2002 – VoteHere announces standards for qualifying remote voting technology. VoteHere, the industry leader in secure technology and software for electronic and online voting systems, announced today that it has released a draft of voting system standards suitable for voting on electronic network devices including wireless phones, Internet-connected PCs, televisions, and ATM-style kiosks.

Admiral Bill Owens, Chairman "Admiral Bill Owens serves as the Company's Chairman. Currently, Bill Owens is Co-CEO and Vice Chairman of Teledesic, a global broadband networking company. Previously, he was President, Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), the nation’s largest employee-owned high-technology company. During his distinguished military career, Bill Owens held the rank of four-star Admiral in the US Navy and served as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also served as the deputy chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments, commander of the US Sixth Fleet, senior military assistant to Secretaries of Defense Frank Carlucci and Dick Cheney and director of the Office of Program Appraisal for the Secretary of the Navy."

Dr. Robert Gates "Dr. Robert Gates has 27 years experience as an intelligence professional for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), including serving as Director of Central Intelligence from November 1991 until January 1993. Currently, Dr. Gates is the Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University, a position he has held since 1999." (Editor's note: Dr. Gates is also on the Board of TRW, which owns Cogent, another voting machine company - see above. July 25, 03 - it was just reported on MSNBC by Andrea Mitchell that Robert Gates was with the CIA and NSA (National Security Agency)>

Advisor - Robert G. Wolfe, General Partner, Northwest Venture Associates "Robert Wolfe brings 25 years of finance, operations and technology management experience to the VoteHere team. He is currently a General Partner with Northwest Venture Associates (NWVA), the largest venture capital fund exclusively invested in Pacific Northwest-based companies, where he previously served as Entrepreneur in Residence and Advisory Board Member. Most recently, Mr. Wolfe served as President and COO of GT Group Telecom, Canada's largest independent, facilities-based telecommunications provider, where he grew revenue from under C$2 million to C$250 million (annual rate) and closed several key acquisitions. He drove multiple financings over C$2 billion, including the company's initial public offering on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSE 300). Mr. Wolfe was also CFO of Trillium Corporation, a global investment firm with real estate and forestry interests, where he oversaw the firm's investment portfolio and financial strategies, including technology, retail, media and venture funds.Mr. Wolfe has also held several senior positions with The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS) in Asia, Europe and the US, where he provided investment-banking services for non-Japan Asia and European financial institutions. His efforts led to the first Euroyen auto-backed financing, overseeing mortgage- and asset-backed securities finance and assisting in the development of Fannie Mae's multi-billion dollar callable debt program."

Advisor - Deborah Brunton, Vice President, Public Affairs - "Deborah Brunton comes to VoteHere from the Microsoft Corporation, where she held the position of Director of State Government Affairs in the Law and Corporate Affairs department. In this role, she was responsible for a program focused on issue advocacy, policy development, relationship building and industry affairs management. From 1989 to 1993, she also served as Press Secretary for United States Senator Slade Gorton. Ms. Brunton received her Bachelor of Arts in History from Whitman College."

Note: According to reporter Daniel Hopsicker, Glenn Boord and Ralph Escudero owned a now-defunct voting-machine company, Uni-lect, associated with Sequoia Pacific. Is it defunct? source: http://www.madcowprod.com/II.htm

"UniLect Corporation, headquartered in Dublin, California, was founded in 1989 to serve the large government election industry in the United States, Canada, and to a lesser degree, internationally. UniLect is a development, sales, manufacturing, installation and support corporation for its election products. Each of these products involves state-of-the-art hardware and software, including voting equipment and systems, required or desired by state, county, city, and town governments. The President of UniLect Corporation is Jack Gerbel, who has been actively involved in the election equipment industry since 1965. His career began in elections with IBM Corporation and then as a founder, Vice-President and Board of Directors member of Computer Election Systems (CES), which at the time of its sale was the largest election equipment company in the world. Mr. Gerbel had at that time the distinction of personally selling and installing more successful election systems than any other person in the U.S. Two major accounts that he sold and successfully installed were Cook County, Illinois and the City of Chicago. Upon the sale of CES, Mr. Gerbel became Vice-President of Sales for Business Records Corporation (BRC), including new product development. He has become nationally known for his expertise in the election industry and has been called upon to consult on various election projects."

Jan 4, 02 - "The Pentagon spent $6.2 million on a pilot program, which in 2000 was used for absentee voting over the Internet by just 84 service members. Carried out by private contractor Booz-Allen & Hamilton Inc., the project was described in a report on the Voting Over the Internet (VOI) Pilot Project, released with little fanfare this summer by the Defense Department's Federal Voting Assistance Program. Critics noted that the cost involved in the pilot program worked out to $74,000 per voter. " http://www.electionline.org/site/docs/pdf/defense.bill.okd.by.bush.bna.01.04.02.pdf

AccuPoll http://www.smallcapreview.com/acup.htm "AccuPoll Holding Corporation (OTC-BB - ACUP) represents the future of the voting industry. Spurred on by nearly $4 billion in congressionally approved spending over the next three years, ACUP's system will allow voters to electronically and securely place votes for their candidates in a secure and technologically accurate environment."

"David Hart, chairman of Hart InterCivic, said that because of the business he's in he doesn't contribute. A major investor in Hart InterCivic is Tom Hicks's investment firm, Stratford Capital Partners. Hicks was in the group of investors who bought the Texas Rangers from Bush and others for nearly three times their investment in it. Hicks has also been a lavish donor to Bush campaigns." Source: U.S. Election 2004: How the Republicans Can 'Decide' the Vote by Ronnie Dugger Released: 3 Aug 2004 http://www.agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=197

READ MORE -October 20, 2004—As if Bush's sale of his $606,000 share of Texas Rangers stock to owner Tom Hicks for $15 million wasn't enough, there's more from deep in the heart of Texas to nail the good old boy, namely the possibility of tax evasion. That is, Bush declared the proceeds as a long-term capital gain, which it wasn't, as opposed to ordinary income, which it was. This means Bush paid at the capital gains' rate of 20 percent as opposed to the ordinary income rate of 39.6 percent. Beating the IRS out of nearly 20 percent in additional taxes. But the fun doesn't stop there.... http://www.onlinejournal.com/Special_Reports/102404Mazza/102404mazza.html

Aug. 15, 2003, 11:55PM Hart InterCivic, together with MAXIMUS, NCR Corporation and DFM Associates have teamed to provide election equipment and services to Ohio counties. (BW) Hart InterCivic Conducts Successful Elections in Ohio Counties with eSlate Electronic Voting System Business Editors/High-Tech Writers/Government Writers
(c) 2003 Business Wire. AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 14, 2003-- found in google cache http://216.239.53.104

"Election Services Corporation (ESC) http://www.electionservicescorp.com/ is the Internet voting company and Democratic bad boy Tony Coelho is on their board. This is a little unusual in a business dominated by the Republican and foreign corporations. Tony "was a six-term congressman and House majority whip, who resigned from Congress after reports surfaced that he had accepted a sweetheart loan from a troubled S&L operator. The loan helped Coelho buy a $100,000 junk bond, but he never reported it on his government disclosure form. The Justice Department decided not to bring charges against him," according to Slate.msn.com. He was also investigated by the State Department when he was Al Gore's campaign manager for the 2000 presidential election. The investigation was reportedly related to his work as the commissioner general of the United States Pavilion at the 1998 World Expo. As a result, Tony resigned as Gore's campaign manager. " http://www.ecotalk.org/Democrats&VotingTechnology.htm

Election Resources Corporation http://www.ballots.com/ Distributer of ES&S? The BPS is used to prepare Votomatic ballot pages and absentee ballots, Paper ballots, E.S. & S. and Optech ballots. The system also produces an array of reports to assist in the printing of ballots and the preparation of voting devices.

Harp Enterprises, Inc. www.harpenterprisesinc.com Lexington, KY
Sales Contact: Roger D. Baird, President (harpent@aol.com) [1] 800-432-9282
Description: Distributor for the Danaher E.V.M 1242 Voting System, ballot printer for Shoup and AVM Lever, printer of ES&S optical scan ballots. Supplier for precinct election supplies, signs, ballot boxes, etc.

Safevote, Inc. http://www.safevote.com Eva Waskell, Communications Director (interview: Safevote does online voting only. It's a private company. Would not release any company information. Oct 16, 2002 source: L. Landes

Populex a voting systems company that is reportedly creating the electronic voting system for Illinois, has on its advisory board, Frank C. Carlucci, Chairman Emeritus, The Carlyle Group, former Secretary of Defense and Advisor to the President for National Security Affairs, and business partner of former President George H.W. Bush

2002 Texas - Voting Systems Certifications http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/laws/certifications.shtml