sequoia voting systems
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Smartmatic bails from e-voting biz after media heat
Smartmatic, of Sequoia Voting Systems infamy, is taking its ball and going home, after becoming fed up with the intense public scrutiny its voting systems have received. "Given the current climate of the United States marketplace with so much public debate over foreign ownership of firms in an area that is viewed as critical U.S. infrastructure -- election technology -- we feel it is in both companies' best interests to move forward as separate entities with separate ownership," said Antonio Mugica, president of Smartmatic. Of course, we really would've just been happy with a voting system that didn't, say, have the ability to register multiple votes per voter, but we suppose that's too much to ask. A big stink has been raised in regards to Smartmatic's Venezuelan ownership and some supposed ties to Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and it appears Smartmatic isn't up for the fight. Smartmatic had previously agreed to an investigation by the US Treasury Department, but now that they're putting Sequoia on the auction block, they've withdrawn from the review process. Any takers?[Via Techdirt]
Sequoia voting gear allows for ballot stuffing, calls it a "feature"
There's an old adage in election-year politics: "Vote early, and vote often." While that second part is usually meant as a little humorous jab, Sequoia Voting Systems apparently wasn't in on the joke. See, in California and other states, some polling places have these e-voting devices (made by Sequoia) known as AVC Edge voting machines, and each machine comes with a yellow button located on the back of each device. The button is designed as a manual backup, which activists claim allows people to vote as many times as they like. Fear not, though: Sequoia will resubmit the system for certification (after the election), and doesn't really consider this button to be a flaw at all. As Michelle Shafer, vice president of communications for Sequoia, told internetnews.com: "It's a deliberate back-up feature to prevent the Edge from having a single point of failure -- an inoperable card activator -- at a polling location and preventing voters from casting their ballots." Plus, Shafer continued, even if someone did push the button, the machine issues a loud beep when it's pressed -- obviously a completely foolproof system. The California Secretary of State's office has already issued instructions to poll workers to listen for the fateful beeping, so voters can rest assured that no one will try this hack. Goodness knows what will happen if a bunch of voters come in with pagers that all go off simultaneously, though. [Via TechDirt]
