I'm mordantly amused by the suggestion that this deal "could have adverse consequences for how America votes" (see below)--our voting system having long since been subverted by Diebold and ES&S when they were nominally separate companies. If not for such subversion, Bush/Cheney never would have happened.
There are a few facts that Sen. Schumer should review (although he won't): Diebold and ES&S originated from a single company--Data Mark, which then morphed into American Information Services (AIS), which then was split up into Diebold and ES&S. The founders of Data Mark were brothers Bob and Todd Urosevich, a pair of raging Christianists from Oklahoma. When AIS divided, Bob became the president of Diebold, Todd a vice president of ES&S. Data Mark's change into AIS was facilitated by another pair of brothers: William and Robert Ahmanson--cousins of Howard Ahmanson, the fearsomely pro-active theocratic multimillionaire who funds the Discovery Institute (for the propagation of "intelligent design"), the schism in the Episcopalian Church, and the careers of countless theocratic politicians, to name a handful of his covert strikes against American democracy. Now, we don't know whether Howard's cousins share his views of what America should be, and, in any case, they sold their piece (68%) of AIS some time ago. The fact remains that Bob and Todd Urosevich are fervent Christianists--as are a lot of other folks who own and manage segments of the electronic voting (and vote-counting) infrastructure. And then there are those firms whose owners have been, or are now, not theocrats but dedicated Bush Republicans. For example, Hart InterCivic, another big e-voting company, was, until not long ago, owned largely by a holding company controlled by Tom Hicks, a Texas plutocrat and longtime buddy of, and major donor to, George W. Bush. The problem with e-voting, then, is not, as Schumer has it, insufficient "competition." The problem, rather, has to do with the highly partisan complexion of the ownership and management of those firms that now dominate the voting process in America; and that points to the deeper problem--which Schumer surely won't discuss--of total unaccountability. For whether it's ES&S that henceforth dominates the "market" of election management, or whether it's ES&S and Diebold/Premier that hold the lion's share between them, our voting process is profoundly unaccountable in two interrelated ways. First of all, the fact that we have private companies in charge of our elections means that our whole voting system is completely unaccountable to We the People--just like Blackwater, DynCorp, CACI International, Titan, Dick Cheney's KBR and all the other military contractors now wreaking havoc globally, and with impunity; and just the like the private firms that run America's complex of prisons. That our elections should be thus controlled by private interests is, in fact, grotesque--and would be even if they tilted Democratic. And such private unaccountability has been compounded radically by the Establishment's embrace of electronic voting and vote-counting: a system that is perfectly opaque, entailing no such thing as ballot-counts observable by all. Instead, we have "results" based wholly on the mere say-so of corporate bosses and their hired technicians. No mere partial "audits," however scrupulously managed, can properly replace the public tabulation of all ballots-- a process that is crucial to democracy (and, therefore, mandated clearly in a number of state constitutions). Nor is the so-called "voter-verified paper trail" (VVPAT) an adequate equivalent to proper ballots. The use of DRE machines and op-scans tends automatically to mystify the voting process, which--since that technology is privately controlled--is therefore doubly hidden from us. So if Chuck Schumer, or the Democrats in general, really gave a flying f**k about American democracy, he and they would all be airing these concerns, instead of arguing that there should be two large private corporations, not just one, controlling most elections in America. MCM Senator Schumer seeks DOJ probe of Diebold's sale of voting-machine business FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2009 SCHUMER URGES JUSTICE DEPT. TO PROBE DIEBOLD'S PROPOSED SALE OF ELECTION MACHINE BUSINESS TO ITS BIGGEST COMPETITOR; SAYS DEAL COULD HAVE 'ADVERSE CONSEQUENCES' FOR HOW AMERICA VOTES Schumer, As Senate Rules Chairman, Raises Flags Over Proposed Merger On Antitrust Grounds Says Deal Could Give One Company Control Over 75 Percent of Election Machine Market Senator: Competition Is Needed To Reduce Chances of Widespread Election Fraud WASHINGTON, DC - U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), the Chairman of the Senate Rules and Administration Committee and a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, raised alarm bells Monday over Diebold's proposed sale of its voting machine business to its biggest competitor and urged a full Justice Department review of the deal, saying it could have "adverse implications on how our country votes." Earlier this month, Diebold announced it was selling its Texas-based subsidiary, Premier Election Solutions, to the country's largest voting-machine manufacturer, Election Systems & Software Inc. of Omaha, Neb. The deal immediately sparked concern from election law experts since it would join Premier, which has a 33 percent share of the voting-machine market, with ES&S, whose systems were used in counting approximately 50 percent of all ballots cast in the last four major U.S. elections. Candice Hoke, an election law professor at Cleveland State University, told the Associated Press on Sept. 3 that the proposed deal represented "a massive consolidation of voting-system vendors." In a letter sent to Attorney General Eric Holder today, Schumer requested that the Justice Department's Antitrust Division probe the deal based on anti-competitiveness concerns. "If this acquisition proceeds, one company could control over three-quarters of the U.S. market for voting systems. Given other factors, including high barriers to entering the market, I am deeply concerned that local governments and taxpayers will not be getting a fair deal because too much market power will be held in too few hands," Schumer wrote. "It is in the public interest to maintain a range of choices in voting systems," Schumer added, noting that increased consolidation in the election-machine market could make elections more susceptible to fraud. A copy of Schumer's letter appears below. September 14, 2009 The Honorable Eric Holder Attorney General United States Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington D.C. 20530 Dear General Holder, I am writing today to express my concern with the proposed acquisition of the second largest voting system company by the largest voting system company. Last week, Election Systems & Software Inc. (ES&S) announced that it plans to purchase Premier Election Solutions, Inc., a subsidiary of Diebold Inc. This acquisition may have serious adverse implications for how our country votes. Since this industry provides a product vital to American governance, I am asking that the Antitrust Division examine this acquisition carefully to make sure there is no anticompetitive impact on election officials, states, or voters. There is a history of concern over lack of competition in this industry. In 1997, American Information Systems purchased Business Records Corporation and became the company now known as ES&S. At the time, the Department of Justice intervened and forced a divestiture of the optical scan voting equipment business to another company, Sequoia Voting Systems. The concerns over consolidation have not abated in the past decade; in fact, the number of voting systems manufacturers is continually decreasing. Elections are run by state and local election officials. Counties and cities have to purchase voting systems to count the ballots. A county may not be able to negotiate effectively against a company that controls the vast majority of voting systems in the country. ES&S, currently the largest election system company in the U.S., serves 1,985 jurisdictions in more than 43 states with approximately 67 million registered voters. ES&S systems were used in counting approximately 50% of votes in the last four major U.S. elections. Meanwhile, Premier Solutions has a 33% share of the U.S. market. If this acquisition proceeds, one company could control over three-quarters of the U.S. market for voting systems. Given other factors, including high barriers to entering the market, I am deeply concerned that local governments and taxpayers will not be getting a fair deal because too much market power will be held in too few hands. It is in the public interest to maintain a range of choices in voting systems. Historically, states have used a wide variety of voting systems from a number of manufacturers. A 2003 Congressional Research Service report raised concerns over the consolidation of voting systems in the United States. The report indicates that having a diversity of voting systems in our country may decrease the likelihood of widespread election fraud. We need to do everything possible to make our elections reliable and secure. As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, I understand that following the new requirements in the Help America Vote Act, the voting system industry has gone through many changes. The largest of these changes is a new, more rigorous voting system testing and certification program. I am not without sympathy of the increased costs that accompany new federal testing requirements and that voting system companies must bear. However, that does not alleviate my concern of any one company obtaining such an outsized share of the market. I ask that you perform a full and fair review of this proposed acquisition. We need to ensure that local governments can choose among a range of options for voting systems, that prices and services offered by these companies are competitive and fair, and that voters are assured that elections are secure and their tax dollars are being used wisely. I look forward to hearing from you on this issue. If your staff has any questions, please contact my office at 202-224-6352. Sincerely, Charles E. Schumer Chairman Senate Rules and Administration Committee --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [email protected] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
