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California: Sec of State sues ES&S for uncertified changes to voting machines

The New York Times reports: The California secretary of state, Debra Bowen, filed a lawsuit yesterday against a voting machine manufacturer for the reported sale of uncertified machines to five counties in northern California.

The suit follows an investigation that Ms. Bowen began in July after an employee of the company, Election Systems and Software Inc., mentioned to her that changes had been made to machines bought by the counties. After a similar suit against Diebold Election Systems in 2003, California required that all changes made to voting machines be reported to its secretary of state. ...

The suit, filed in San Francisco, seeks $9.72 million from the company for the sale of 972 machines with internal hardware changes that were not reported or submitted for re-certification. It also asks for an additional $5 million for each county, Colusa, Marin, Merced, San Francisco and Solano.

Changes to the machines, AutoMARK A200 models, are not apparent in outward appearance or function, county election officials said. -- California Sues a Voting Machine Maker Over Changes

Disclosure: About 6 years ago, I did a little securities-related work for ES&S.

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