Seattle City Wire

A letter sent to the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) over a decade ago shows security issues surrounding computer voting machines and that fraud allegations have plagued elections for years. 

In a letter dated July 6, 2010 to the EAC regarding its proposed federal requirement to oversee federal testing and certification of internet voting systems in 2010, Seattle-based Voter Action raised concern over lax security measures compromising the integrity of elections in America.

The letter listed some concerns over the years about fraud allegations, citing the fraud charges against voting system company Diebold and its former CEO Walden O’Dell. The Federal Security and Exchange Commission entered a settlement on June 2, 2010, awarding Diebold and O’Dell $25 million and over $1.5 million, respectively. 

The letter also highlighted an issue that occurred on June 8, 2010, with reported potential fraud and voting machine malfunction during the U.S. Senate Democratic primary election in South Carolina. Federal and state authorities conducted an investigation and the issue illustrated “the need for auditable and re-countable paper ballots to check against election fraud and abuse,” the letter read.

Also concerning, the letter stated, was the fact that Dominion Voting Systems, which splits its headquarters between Tronoto and Denver, is one of the largest voting system companies that relies on code created and owned by Smartmatic, which is a foreign-controlled company with ties to the Venezuelan government then-led by Hugo Chavez.

Dominion purchased Diebold and Sequoia Voting Systems in 2010, making it one of the largest voting systems in the nation.

“Efforts to date have not succeeded in determining the ultimate owners of Smartmatic or the extent to which Smartmatic and the Chavez government of Venezuela have influence over U.S. elections through Smartmatic's control of the software that counts votes for Sequoia (now Dominion) voting machines,” the letter read. The concern is that Smartmatic’s sale of Sequoia “was fraudulent,” and “a sham transaction designed to fool regulators.”

Voter Action claims that the EAC proposed requirements are not as rigorous as the Voluntary Voting Systems Guidelines and do not address the heightened security risks posed by internet voting for elections.