A company that provides electronic voting machines in the United States --
including those in 21 California counties -- is formally asking the U.S.
Treasury Department to investigate what it says are untrue accusations that its
ownership by Venezuelan investors is tied to the leftist government of President
Hugo Chavez.
Antonio Mugica, the CEO of Smartmatic Corp., owner of Oakland-based Sequoia
Voting Systems Inc., said at a press conference Monday in Washington, D.C., that
the Venezuelan government has never invested in either company nor have they
been influenced by Chavez.
"No foreign government, from any country, has ever owned a stake in
Smartmatic," said Mugica, adding that the same charge has been leveled against
the company since 2004 when it won the bid to handle the Venezuelan recall and
referendum, which Chavez won.
"We have the most secure and advanced voting system out there. We want to
make sure we can keep being successful, Mugica said. "That's why it's important
for us to clear these allegations once -- and hopefully -- for all."
Questions about being able to manipulate a voter's ballot choices on a
Sequoia machine -- which are used in 16 states and the District of Columbia --
is just the latest complaint about the reliability of electronic voting
machines, complaints that tend to get louder as election get closer.
"This investigation illustrates why private corporate ownership of voting
equipment is problematic. We shouldn't have to wonder if our election results
could be influenced by corporate or foreign interests," said Kim Alexander,
president of the California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes
responsible use of voting technology.
Smartmatic asked for a formal review of its Sequoia purchase by the Committee
on Foreign Investment in the United States, the same federal entity that
examined a proposed purchase by a Dubai company that would have placed Dubai in
charge of some operations at six U.S. ports.
The committee, comprised of representatives from 12 federal agencies,
examines the national security implications of foreign acquisitions.
"We're looking at the transaction," said Brookly McLaughlin, a spokeswoman
for the U.S. Treasury Department, which oversees the committee. "I can confirm
they filed (a request for investigation) ... but we've also been in contact with
the company informally since earlier this year."
The claim of government influence with Smartmatic focuses around a small
company called Bizta, which Smartmatic acquired in 2005 after working with Bizta
on the Venezuelan referendum a year earlier. Chavez is a frequent critic of the
Bush administration and used a United Nations General Assembly address to call
Bush the devil.
Bizta, on whose board Mugica sat, received more than $200,000 in start-up
money -- akin to a Small Business Administration loan in the United States,
Mugica said -- with the condition the government hold 28 percent of the stock as
collateral and a government official be placed on Bizta's board. The government
official had advised Chavez on election technology.
"That's the standard way small business loans are given in Venezuela. The
loan was paid off, the government ownership went away," said Jeff Bialos, a
Washington lawyer representing Smartmatic and Sequoia.
Despite having no previous experience in voting systems, Smartmatic and a
consortium of other companies were chosen to conduct the 2004 presidential
referendum. The government loan to Bizta was repaid before the August, 2004
referendum.
