Maker of voting machines sues state

JOHN McCARTHY??? Associated Press?? 02 May 2005

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A voting machine maker on Monday sued the state over a decision by its chief elections official that allows counties to buy touch-screen electronic machines only from a rival company.

Election Systems & Software Inc. filed its lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court. It seeks to prevent Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell from enforcing a directive that allows county boards of elections to buy touch-screen electronic machines made by Diebold Election Systems or optical scan machines.

Blackwell's directive last month came after secret negotiations between his office and Diebold and eliminated the opportunity for counties to choose from more than one touch-screen vendor, ES&S said in a news release.

Blackwell has said the Diebold machines are the only electronic machines to meet federal and state standards under the Help America Vote Act of 2002. Both North Canton-based Diebold and Omaha, Neb.-based ES&S manufacture optical-scan machines that meet both state and federal standards and are available to the county boards.

The Diebold machines are the only touch-screen devices to meet a state requirement to give voters proof of their votes on paper. The paper, which stays in the machine, would be used in the event of a recount.

A message seeking comment was left for Blackwell. Attorney General Jim Petro's office had received a copy of the lawsuit and was reviewing it, spokeswoman Kim Norris said.

Blackwell has set a May 13 deadline for voting machine system plans to be submitted to his office. ES&S President and Chief Executive Aldo Tesi said his company has developed a touch-screen system that would meet certification standards, but the company needs more time to prepare them.

The state has about $115 million in federal money available for upgrading the machines in all 88 counties, which would cover the cost of buying touch-screen machines in all counties, Blackwell's office said last month.

Tesi said the 42 counties that had picked ES&S optical scan machines under an old Blackwell directive wanted a choice of touch-screen systems. ES&S also has produced a touch-screen machine with a paper audit trail, he said.

"The development has been finalized and has been pending at the independent (testing) authority. It's a solution we took time to develop with input from our customers," Tesi said in an interview. "At the end, this is not about ES&S, it's about what is right for the counties and the voters they serve."

The lawsuit is the second filed over Blackwell rulings involving voting machines. In February, Austin, Texas-based Hart Intercivic Inc. said Blackwell's actions cost the company the chance to provide machines to at least six Ohio counties Hart expected to win as customers.

Under the federal HAVA rules, the new systems aren't required to be in place until the first federal election of 2006, but some county boards want to have them up for this November's municipal election and not wait until next year's statewide elections, where turnout is expected to be heavier.

"We're confident we could meet the requirement for the November election," Tesi said.