[IP] Convicted felons worked for electronic voting companies
Delivered-To: dfarber+@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 00:06:17 -0500
From: Gordon Cook <cook@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Convicted felons worked for electronic voting companies
Critics: Convicted felons worked for electronic voting companies
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7507193.htm
RACHEL KONRAD
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO - At least five convicted felons secured management positions
at a manufacturer of electronic voting machines, according to critics
demanding more stringent background checks for people responsible for
voting machine software.
Voter advocate Bev Harris alleged Tuesday that managers of a subsidiary of
Diebold Inc., one of the country's largest voting equipment vendors,
included a cocaine trafficker, a man who conducted fraudulent stock
transactions and a programmer jailed for falsifying computer records.
The programmer, Jeffrey Dean, wrote and maintained a proprietary code used
to count hundreds of thousands of votes as senior vice president of Global
Election Systems Inc. North Canton, Ohio-based Diebold purchased GES in
January 2002.
According to a court document released before GES hired him, Dean served
time in a Washington correctional facility for stealing money and tampering
with computer files in a scheme that "involved a high degree of
sophistication and planning."
"You can't tell me these people passed background tests," Harris, author of
"Black Box Voting: Ballot Tampering in the 21st Century," said in a phone
interview.
Diebold spokesman Michael Jacobsen emphasized the company performs
background checks on all managers and programmers. He said many GES
managers - including Dean - left at the time of the acquisition.
"We can't speak for the hiring process of a company before we acquired it,"
Jacobsen said. He would not provide further details, saying company policy
bars discussion of current or past employees.
Dean could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The former GES is Diebold's wholly owned subsidiary, Global Election
Management Systems, which produces the operating system that touch-screen
voting terminals use.
Harris and Andy Stephenson, a Democratic candidate for secretary of state
in Washington, conducted a 10-day investigation in Seattle and Vancouver,
where the men were convicted. Harris and Stephenson released the findings
in a 17-page document online and at a news conference in Seattle.
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/7507193.htm
{snip]
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