Convicted felons worked for electronic voting companies

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 00:06:17 -0500
From: Gordon Cook <cook () cookreport com>
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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