Hart InterCivic attempts hostile takeover of Sequoia

Brad Friedman:

As if Sequoia Voting Systems doesn't have enough trouble already, the company now needs some $2 million dollars in cash... quickly. Without it, it is likely to be subsumed by one of its nearest competitors, Hart InterCivic of Austin, as soon as next Tuesday, The BRAD BLOG has learned.

In what could well be a major shift on the American election industry landscape --- and certainly on elections themselves in dozens of states across the country --- voting machine company Hart InterCivic informed the current owners of the beleaguered Sequoia of their intention to acquire ownership of the company in a move which could take effect as early as next week. ...

Sequoia is believed by election experts to be this country's third largest voting machine company, followed by Hart. The combined operation, should the takeover be completed, could well create a new powerhouse in the industry, displacing #2 Diebold/Premier, and coming up just behind the country's currently largest election vendor, ES&S.

Last night in a interview on KPFT, Friedman revealed that Sequoia has recently secured a $100 million contract with New York to be the e-voting vendor of record for the Empire State, which is why -- coupled with their current cash crunch -- they are such an attractive takeover target.

But while Sequoia faces a plethora of legal liabilities concerning their oft-failed voting systems, Hart InterCivic faces its own share of challenges with a pending --- and damning --- federal fraud/qui tam suit against the company, as unsealed late last month. Moreover, Hart's acquisition plan could face scrutiny from members of Congress and Treasury Department officials, as well as states across the country who thought they had turned over control of their elections to Sequoia, only to soon learn there will be a new owner, not of their choosing, of the secret software and devices which determine the results of their public elections. ...

The news will likely be of particular interest to SF, NY and a host of jurisdictions around the country who have recently chosen to do business with Sequoia, rather than Hart --- a company which, among other problems, now has a serious federal whistleblower suit hanging over their head, alleging all manner of false claims and other criminal behavior --- but who now may be forced to deal with a new corporate entity whether they originally agreed to that or not.

Ah, yes. Hart's whistleblower: William Singer. From the legal complaint (.pdf, 45 pages, excerpt below from page 2):

Mr. Singer frequently accompanied Hart representatives to perform demonstrations, testing, and support maintenance of the machines in various locations, and thus heard firsthand a number of misstatements made by Hart in its attempts to win voting system contracts, as well as misstatements made to conceal the voting machines’ frailties and vulnerabilities. In January 2004, Mr. Singer resigned from Hart under protest, citing many of the fraudulent acts and misrepresentations giving rise to this action. In July 2004, Mr. Singer wrote the Secretaries of State for the States of Texas and Ohio, to alert them to Hart’s misconduct. He received no substantive response. Mr. Singer provided discrete bits of information to the press in hopes of attracting attention to Hart’s misconduct. Having “accomplished nothing” in Mr. Singer’s words, he decided to seek legal redress.

Money shot:

A computer scientist who is familiar with most of America's e-voting systems recently told us that he has come to understand that, of all of the voting systems out there, ironically enough, Hart's systems, which have gotten far less attention in the media than those made by Diebold, ES&S and Sequoia over the years, may, in fact, "be the most insecure of them all" due to their particular architecture.

Never Forget: our soldiers in Iraq are fighting for our freedom. I read these words often as they appear in the comments section of the Houston Chronicle, conservative blogs, and in other online fora I frequent. They are posted there by allegedly patriotic conservatives who remain in full-throated support of the war and the attendant torture of "foreigners" as well as the wiretapping of Americans in order to keep us safe.

The right to have our vote count as we intended it, and for that to be verifiable, is one of those liberties. Presumably.

The Weekly Wrangle

Time once again for the Texas Progressive Alliance Blog Round-Up, compiled by member bloggers from submissions from their blogs over the previous week.

It would seem that the Republican Party of Texas (Republicans first, Texans last!) is looking for a few sweet young thangs! McBlogger has the story on the RPT's efforts to secure a few good young people.

Bradley at North Texas Liberal takes a look into the possible political aspirations of Condoleezza Rice... and tells us why she may be the Democrats' worst nightmare.

The Texas Cloverleaf asks if you're ready to strike over gas prices? Some truck drivers are. They aren't defenders of the Alamo, and are few and far between, but will their message resonate with the rest of America? Some of them say no.

With the resounding defeat of Shelley Sekula Gibbs last Tuesday in the GOP CD 22 runoff, this spells the end of her short-lived political career. Hal at Half Empty has created a video to commemorate the Shelster's last hurrah.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme suspects U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will be looking for a new job. Soon. Seems that Carlos spoke the truth about that d*mn fence!

Lightseeker over at Texas Kaos marks the upcoming income tax deadline by bringing up a sadly evergreen topic: Tax Lies That Republicans Tell. After all, if the didn't find someone to put money in to the treasury, where would the money to pay for their crony politics come from?

Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News is not catching up on sleep this time but reveals the predictions for four years his brother made the day after Bush was reelected. His brother gets the Cassandra Award and the media pundits don't have to worry about their jobs.

Doing My Part For The Left warns that voter suppression is not just a Texas problem.

Off the Kuff makes the case for investing in transit in Houston.

IVR polled the Skelly-Culberson CD-07 race, as well as Noriega-Cornyn, and came up with some interesting results. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs blogged it.

nytexan at BlueBloggin points out that most Americans are scraping to get by, however some federal employees are having tons of fun with government credit cards, in Your Tax Dollars Purchased iPods, Internet Dating, Women’s Lingerie…

Sunday Evening Funnies

"It's Obama, stupid"

To be read aloud in your best Scottish brogue:

Democrat grandees Jimmy Carter and Al Gore are being lined-up to deliver the coup de grâce to Hillary Clinton and end her campaign to become president.

Falling poll numbers and a string of high-profile blunders have convinced party elders that she must now bow out of the primary race.

Former president Carter and former vice-president Gore have already held high-level discussions about delivering the message that she must stand down for the good of the Democrats.

"They're in discussions," a source close to Carter told Scotland on Sunday. "Carter has been talking to Gore. They will act, possibly together, or in sequence."

An appeal by both men for Democrats to unite behind Clinton's rival, Barack Obama, would have a powerful effect, and insiders say it is a question of when, rather than if, they act.

"grandees" and coup de grâce in the same sentence. You gotta love it. The money shot:

Obama's campaign has been a phenomenon in American politics, bringing in record numbers of new voters and record funding, and few think the superdelegates would dare deny him victory if he wins the popular vote.

It would also invite the unedifying spectacle of a mostly white elite denying an African American candidate a chance for the presidency. "It would cause a scandal to do that," says one party official. "To turn around to the black community and say, 'You got the most votes, but no'? Unlikely."

Anybody still seriously considering a Clinton nomination should be honest with themselves: she can't win the nomination in a way that would render her more electable than Obama. And since that is the sole remaining argument for her getting the nomination, it is delusional for anyone to contine to believe she should.

This must be about preserving viability for Clinton as a candidate for president in 2012, as far as I can determine; a vile strategy if accurate. At this point Clinton should be defending Obama against unfair attacks on his patriotism, his choice of church and pastor, his qualifications, and his merits. That she is doing the opposite is not a reason to support her, but a reason to be "bitter".

And that there is more mention of Obama as an 'elitist' -- a utterly ridiculous conflation -- than there is regarding the Bush administration's wholehearted application of torture as a foreign policy once more makes a mockery of what passes for a discussion of 'moral values' in the so-called liberal media.

Sunday Funnies

IVR polls Skelly-Culberson and Noriega-Cornyn

And finds there is some ground to make up:

In the CD7 race, I identified each candidate's party, which may explain the unexpectedly low undecided response. Only 4% said they were undecided, with Culberson receiving 57% to Skelly's 39%. ... For the Senate race, Cornyn leads Noriega 58 to 39 within CD7.

536 likely voters polled 4/8/08, Margin of error 4.2%.

Eerily similar figures for my neighborhood in the two important federal races on the ballot (besides the one at the top, of course). Neither race is considered ripe for the Democratic taking. Yet.

Enough voters are willing to consider a non-Republican, but a Democratic candidate would need flawless execution and a little luck.

With 88,000 Democratic primary voters out of the nearly 411,000 county-wide last month, we certainly have the numbers trending our way. The outcome will turn on a variety of factors within and without our control.