Cutting Diebold ties costs county $145,000
By Warren Lutz in Solano Co. Daily Republic   31 August 2004

FAIRFIELD Solano County paid a $415,000 settlement to get out of its contract with voting machine manufacturer Diebold Election Systems, closing a tumultuous chapter in local elections history.

The settlement comes three months after the Board of Supervisors voted to end the Diebold contract, citing broken promises by a company whose touchscreen machines were banned by the state and never received federal approval before they were used.

Both parties reached an agreement on Aug. 16 and Solano County paid the amount on Aug. 18, Deputy County Counsel Wendy Getty said. The amount was based on the county's estimated cost of running the March primary election, the first and only time Diebold's machines were used.

The old machines are since gone and new ones on the way.

The county's 1,171 Diebold Accu-Vote TSx machines went back to the McKinney, Texas, company last week. Meanwhile, half of the county's new optical scanning equipment arrived from Election Systems & Software, the vendor supervisors chose for the upcoming November election.

Supervisors turned down Diebold's free offer to send its own optical scanning equipment, with which voters cast paper ballots that are scanned and tabulated by computer. The county will pay ES&S nearly $4.2 million for scanning equipment in every precinct, special voting machines for the disabled and staff support, Solano County Chief Information Officer Ira Rosenthal said.

ES&S was a finalist for the county's voting contract two years ago when the county bought the Diebold machines for about $4 million. About three quarters of that amount was to be paid by federal and state sources, with the county paying $830,000.

Instead, federal and state will pay for about two thirds of the total cost of the new equipment and the county's one-time Diebold use.

California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley launched an investigation into Diebold after learning the company installed uncertified software on machines that were used in Alameda County elections last fall.

The probe resulted in the banning of the AccuVote TSx in Solano and three other counties. But it also found the process of certifying electronic voting equipment was often lacking.

Despite problems elsewhere in California with Diebold machines, Solano County enjoyed a relatively smooth March election. Yet months before, several county supervisors started airing their displeasure with the company as problems with its machines became public.

Diebold had the support of county staff and former Registrar of Voters Laura Winslow, who has since resigned.

County officials expect to have the new voting equipment in place in time for the November general election.