'Daily Voting News' For December 22, 2006

Guest Blogged by John Gideon of VotersUnite.org The huge news for today is the announcement that Smartmatic has decided to sell Sequoia Voting Systems. They claim it is because of the 'public debate' over foreign ownership of a company that is involved in our elections. I suspect that Smartmatic didn't like the idea that the Feds were looking into the sale and reports of bribery in Venezuela. There is certainly something suspicious about ownership of Sequoia. Smartmatic bought the company in 2005 for $16M from DeLaRue, a British company. That's $16M for a company that had well over $200M in sales in the past couple years. Either DeLaRue has terrible business acumen, which they don't, or there was something fishy about the deal right from the start. / In "E-voting Upgrades America's Ballot Box" the author, a fellow at the biased, agenda-driven Pacific Research Institute, uses no facts in his article in favor of paperless voting. The problem is that some; not many but some; will read his drivel and actually believe what he says. ...

NAtional: E-voting Upgrades America's Ballot Box LINK

NAtional: Cook County's voting machine supplier for sale LINK

NAtional: Sale ends machine flap LINK

NAtional: Parent firm plans to sell Sequoia Voting Systems Venezuela parent cites controversy in plan to sell voting equipment firm that supplies about a third of California's counties LINK

NAtional: Venezuelan-owned voting machine company to sell U.S. subsidiary LINK

NAtional: Smartmatic Announces It Will Sell Sequoia Voting Systems, Withdraw from CFIUS Review LINK

NAtional: Sale Of Voting Machine Firm With Venezuelan Links Will Avoid U.S. Probe LINK

NAtional: Cfius probe blamed for sale of voting-machine company LINK

FL: Florida Voters To Next Congress: This Time, Let Us Finish Tallying the Vote LINK

FL: FL-13 - Audit heads into its final phase LINK

FL: Sarasota County - Voting machine chips check out LINK

FL: Sarasota County - Advocates are left off panel to study voting LINK

FL: Sarasota County - Touch-screen questions may lead lawmakers to look at voting anew LINK

GA: Voter paper trail not an easy path LINK

GA: Opinion - Georgia's electronic vote secure LINK

GA: Panel: Paper trail no guarantee of accurate vote count LINK

GA: Another $75 Million to Diebold? LINK

GA: Bibb County Vote Experiment Shows Little Promise LINK

PA: Westmoreland County - County elections bureau eyes hiring guru LINK

TX: Waller County - State probing Waller County election The AG's office impounds records amid claims rights of black voters were violated LINK

**"Daily Voting News" is meant as a comprehensive listing of reports each day concerning issues related to election and voting news around the country regardless of quality or political slant. Therefore, items listed in "Daily Voting News" may not reflect the opinions of VotersUnite.Org or OpEdNews.Com**