Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
Here we go again with more wrong-doing by a voting machine vendor. This time ES&S (no surprise there) got caught modifying AutoMark voting machines used in many California counties by voters with disabilities. California state election law does not allow any modification to any voting system without notification to the SOS and a determination that the modification does not affect the accuracy and efficiency of that system. It seems that ES&S made a modification to hundreds of AutoMark machines used in counties across the state and did it with no notification. The state has announced a public hearing for 20 September when specific relief will be discussed. That relief could be $10,000 per incident and/or decertification and/or banishment from the state for one to three years and/or other fines or restitution including refund of all tax-payer money spent to purchase those machines. It will be interesting to see how many local election officials suddenly come to ES&S’s defense. And the burning question is whether the modification was federally approved and how many other states have machines modified by ES&S in the dark of the night?...
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