Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org
In an Op-Ed in the Miami Herald today, the President of Sequoia and President and CEO of its parent company, Smartmatic, said, in defending the Sequoia ownership, “Most important, the idea that foreigners could somehow influence the U.S. voting process is untrue and ignores the numerous safeguards and stringent regulations in place to ensure fair and accurate elections. Sequoia Voting Systems’ election equipment and software have been tested and qualified by federal Independent Testing Authorities and certified by individual states.” The Independent Testing Authorities (ITAs) mentioned are companies like Ciber. Is this supposed to give us some confidence? Are they kidding?…
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The Smartmatic-Sequoia letter was in response to this Miami Herald editorial of last week:
PROBE OF VOTE-EQUIPMENT COMPANY IN NATIONAL INTEREST
Posted on Mon, Jan. 08, 2007
Sale could ease doubt about elections
OUR OPINION: PROBE OF VOTE-EQUIPMENT COMPANY IN NATIONAL INTEREST
The pending sale of Smartmatic Corp.’s subsidiary, Sequoia Voting Systems Co., should ease doubts voters may have about possible foreign influence in U.S. elections. A U.S. Treasury panel that was investigating Smartmatic regarding national-security concerns said that it will ”closely monitor” the sale of Sequoia. This should help assure Americans that no hostile government can meddle in U.S Elections.
Smartmatic purchased Sequoia, a leading voting-equipment vendor, in 2005. The company has been under a cloud since the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, began a national-security investigation last fall. The concern was that the Venezuela, headed by President Hugo Chà¡vez, who is known for anti-U.S. antics, might have undue influence in Smartmatic. Given the growing distrust of electronic-voting systems and the fear of vote manipulation, careful review of Smartmatic was justified.
Bribery probe
Smartmatic initially resisted the CFIUS investigation. Later, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Justice Department had undertaken a different investigation of Smartmatic. This investigation was related to possible bribes and tax evasion in Smartmatic’s sale of voting equipment to Venezuela’s government for use in its 2004 presidential recall election.
Antonio Mujica, Smartmatic’s CEO and founder, is a Spanish-Venezuelan dual citizen. He and other company officials repeatedly have denied any connection to the Venezuelan government and all allegations of bribery or tax evasion.
Unnamed investors
Smartmatic’s ownership structure is so convoluted that it is virtually impossible to verify all its owners. Parent company Smartmatic International is owned by a Netherlands company, which is owned by Curacao trusts, which in turn, are controlled by unnamed investors.
The Venezuelan government once had a stake in a company closely linked to Smartmatic. Venezuela invested in Bizta, which is owned by two of Smartmatic’s main owners, including Mr. Mujica. Bizta provides software for Smartmatic’s voting system and joined Smartmatic in selling that system to the Chà¡vez government for the 2004 recall election. Venezuela sold its stake in Bizta after The Miami Herald reported on the investment, which prompted complaints that the Chà¡vez government shouldn’t have any interest in machines that would determine his stay in office.
U.S. Rep Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., who initiated the CFIUS probe, says that Smartmatic ”could not overcome the cloud of doubt” about its ownership of Sequoia. CFIUS was right to take decisive action to protect national security and the integrity of U.S. elections.
It is a sick joke scam.
Historically and hysterically one person has done all the “certifications”. Read the posts in this thread. Find out that he does the inspections for all of the “companies“.
It is a pathetic joke like gerrymandering. These two facts are ignored more often than some of the others.
Every single person in America, myself included, has been trained since birth to trust large corporations to do a better job of everything. Aunt Jemima can fix dinner better then mom can. If mom gives you something for your headache, it better come out of a sealed bottle from Bayer. It’s in our damned DNA.
Fight it!