Voting Machine Mess-up Du Jour (Displayed 11/30/04)

Santa Clara County, California. November, 2003. Sequoia.
DRE Battery problem "fixed" by unidentified Sequoia technicians.

After a battery problem occurred in the paperless voting machines during the election, anonymous Sequoia technicians worked on the machines without any oversight from county officials.*

Following November's election in Santa Clara County, Sequoia sent over a group of blue-coated technicians to make adjustments to voting machines that experienced battery problems. For three weeks, the workers, employed by a Sequoia subcontractor, took apart the machines, removing their circuit boards and making adjustments.

Nevertheless, Santa Clara County officials didn't know the name of the subcontractor and hadn't verified the identities of the workers it hired when the Mercury News made an inquiry. They also hadn't documented the changes being made to the machines.

To find out such information, "you'd have to contact Sequoia," said Assistant Registrar of Voters Elaine Larson.

* Electronic voting's hidden perils. Mercury News. February 1, 2004. By Elise Ackerman.

See: Sequoia in the News

A common practice for local election officials
is to let election companies run their election —
make up their ballot, set up their machines,
and even count their tallies.
This is a dangerous practice."
~ Ted Selker