Black Box Voting Update: New Consumer Reports

(May 4-10, 2005)

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1. SOMETHING’S COOKING IN COOK COUNTY -- $45 million deal for new voting machines flying under the radar in Cook County (Chicago) – Black Box Voting has learned that a decision is expected this month for a joint RFP issued a year ago by Cook County and the Chicago Board of Elections. One of the leading contenders for the contract is Diebold Election Systems. The imminence of this contract award stunned even die-hard voting activists in the Chicago area, who are mobilizing now … more: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/5559.html

2. MONEY TRAIL REPORT #1 -- Large payments from Diebold are fueling influence-peddling in Ohio and Cook County/Chicago. Black Box Voting has learned that the payments are going through a small corporation called ACG Group LLC, formed by two Democrats and a Republican. The Republican, Pasquale Gallina, was once business partners with two convicted felons, and has been involved in a number of ethics controversies. One of the Democrats, former Ohio Secretary of State Anthony Celebrezze, passed away shortly after forming ACG Group. The other Democrat is a prominent Hispanic voting rights leader, Dr. Juan Andrade, Jr., founder of the U.S. Hispanic Leadership Institute. Andrade admitted to Black Box Voting in a videotaped interview that he has been taking payments from Diebold, but said he wasn’t sure if it should be characterized as “lobbying.”

Andrade acknowledged that Diebold is making payments directly to him and also that monies are flowing from Diebold through the ACG Group. According to Andrade, these payments are then paid out to others. When asked what the payments to others are buying, Black Box Voting was told that the Diebold funds pay “subcontractors.” When asked what the subcontractors do, Andrade said that they do “largely public persuasion.” However, nothing about this appears to be very public, and the amounts paid to Andrade, uncovered by Black Box Voting through documents obtained from a source inside Diebold, amount to an unusually high amount, at $20,000 per month. More: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/5595.html

MONEY TRAIL REPORT SERIES: Watch www.blackboxvoting.org for new money trail reports throughout the month of May. Upcoming stories: OHIO players ... Hired Guns and Revolvers … Anatomy of a Bribe …

3. BIG MEETING BREWING IN SACRAMENTO MAY 19: Activists are urged to come to Sacramento to request statewide decertification of Diebold. At a meeting at the Secretary of State Building at 10:00 a.m. May 19, Diebold Election Systems will attempt to certify a number of new products. Black Box Voting will present evidence of new violations of California law, and is urging a moratorium on new spending and decertification of Diebold in the state of California. More: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/5557.html

4. DISABILITY COMPLIANCE TRIGGERS NEW REMOTE ACCESS RISKS: Black Box Voting has been conducting tests for remote access through telephone lines, in real elections offices, with permission of local officials, using the actual software used in the Nov. 2002 general election. Black Box Voting has identified a problem with security which occurs if a single Diebold touch-screen is added to optical-scan (paper based) locations. The remote access configuration used with the touch-screen can act as the single “bad apple” enabling easier access into the rest of the voting system. More: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/5512.html

5. LOS ANGELES VOTING SYSTEM OWNED BY MALAYSIAN GAMBLING COMPANY: Black Box Voting has been looking into the situation in Los Angeles, where an unusual voting system is used, the InkaVote. That system is owned by International Lottery and Totalizator Systems (ILTS). A politically-connected Malaysian gambling outfit owns ILTS. According to SEC filings, Berjaya Lottery Management -- a gaming subsidiary of Berjaya Group Berhad with ties to former prime minister Mahathid, located in Malaysia -- owns 71% of the voting stock in ILTS, the company that makes InkaVote. More: http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/1954/4624.html

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