California suing voting machine maker (ES&S) for $15 million

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen on Monday sued a Nebraska voting machine company, seeking fines and reimbursements of nearly $15 million from the firm for allegedly selling nearly 1,000 uncertified machines to San Francisco and four other counties.

San Francisco's 558 AutoMARK ballot-marking devices were among 972 of the machines that Election Systems & Software sold in California last year without putting them through the state testing process.

The uncertified voting machines also were sold to Solano, Marin, Merced and Colusa counties. Bowen learned of the possible violation last July and ordered an investigation.

"ES&S ignored the law over and over and over again and it got caught," Bowen said in a statement after filing suit against the company. "I am not going to stand on the sidelines and watch a voting system vendor come into the state, ignore the laws and make millions of dollars from California's taxpayers in the process."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/19/BA5QTFFQF.DTL&tsp=1

[NanceGreggs]

1. You go, girl!

:kick:

[Fridays Child]

2. Don't you just totally admire her? I love Debra Bowen!

:woohoo:

[NanceGreggs]

3. Well, maybe just a little bit ...

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

If you go in for that protecting voters' right thingy ...

[aquart]

4. She would make an excellent senator.

I just mention it.

[Hekate]

12. We desperately need her right where she is for the time being.

Thank gods for Debra Bowen.

Hekate

[EFerrari]

5. Debra is being attacked in the corporate media.

If you get a chance, talk back! Make noise! Let's give her some back up. :hi:

[AndyTiedye]

6. Kicking onto the "Greatest" Page

:kick:

[Silver Gaia]

7. WooHoo! Yes, I love her, too!

THIS is why I voted for her. :) What a novel idea... an elected official who actually DOES what the People elected her to do. I remember sitting here on pins and needles on election night anxiously watching the results as they were being tabulated and posted online... waiting, waiting, waiting for that magical point where I KNEW she'd won so I could finally relax and go to bed. :) It was SO very important that Bowen win that race, because this sort of thing is what I knew she was going to do for us. She gets it.

[EFerrari]

8. I was watching other races for fraud but that was the only one

that kept me up, for sure. :)

[Silver Gaia]

10. Yep, same here. n/t

[YvonneCa]

15. She does...

...get it, for sure. I voted for her, too. :)

[FREEWILL56]

9. Nice going. Just make the punishments large enough that they get

the message that they'll understand.

[Bluestar]

11. Hooray for Debra!

So happy we got rid of that Repuke appointee and put in Debra as Secretary of State! She is showing leadership that the rest of the country will follow.

[trashcanistanista]

13. This is how it's done!

Thank you Debra!!

[Up2Late]

14. Must be nice to still have some Democrats in positions of power in your State Govornment...

...I haven't a clue how we are going to win back Georgia now that the Fascist Republic Party has finished stealing everything thanks to former PoSSoS Cathy Cox and Diebold.:evilfrown:

[EFerrari]

16. Electing Debra was key to keeping CA. They managed

to have our Dem governor recalled over Enron's manipulations and also to smear our Dem SOS out of office and replaced him with a Republican who immediately certified those pos machines.

[Senator]

17. K&R&ImpeachToWin08

[Joanne98]

18. YAY!

[Bushfire]

19. K & R!!!

[Gregorian]

20. What a happy day!

I see blue skies ahead. Actually, I don't see how things could get a lot worse.

Yeehaw!

[IDemo]

21. Voting machine maker sued by Secretary of State

Source: San Jose Mercury News

California Secretary of State Debra Bowen is seeking $15 million in penalties and reimbursements from Election Systems and Software Inc. based on allegations that the firm sold uncertified voting machines in five counties.

Bowen asserts in a lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court that ES&S should pay the state $9.72 million in fines and reimburse San Francisco, Colusa, Marin, Solano and Merced counties $5 million for the unauthorized equipment.

"ES&S has flouted California law more than once and profited from its wrongdoing," Bowen said on a conference call Monday afternoon. "I will not stand by and let this happen. I am taking steps to hold ES&S accountable."

The lawsuit comes on the heels of demands by San Francisco officials that ES&S pay the costs related to the decertification of the firm's scanners two months prior to the November election. The city also wants the company to pay the moving costs of borrowing certified voting equipment from Contra Costa County.

Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7514245?nclick_check=1

[msongs]

22. hooray! our touch screens in Riverside were all squirrelly a few weeks ago....

6 times I tried to vote for my preferred city councilperson and 6 times the check was put in the opposing candidate's spot. so I asked the poll sitters if the machines were rigged. well they didnt like that and said they couldnt come over and watch me vote, so keep trying. eventually it selected the correct name as verified in the paper print out. turns out that council race was narrowly won by my guy, but the loser is demanding a recount.

the same problem occured for school board races (choose 3 of 5) and took multiple attempts.

beginning this coming spring and from then on, riverside county is dumping e-voting and using paper ballots again.

Msongs
http://www.myspace.com/msongsmusic

[cutlassmama]

23. One has to 'sign in' to get the link

[Robbien]

24. bugmenot.com gave this sign in for mercurynews. It works

Username [e-mail]
Password firefly0

[IDemo]

25. I didn't have to sign in, but I got there via a Google News link

[WilyWondr]

26. Linky doo w/no checky poo

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_7514245

:)

[Pachamama]

27. I live in Marin County, one of the county's that purchased these ESS machines...

I look forward to our county being reimbursed and us never having those machines or any like it again... :applause: