Secretary of state says voting machine company misled her
By Keith M. Phaneuf, Journal Inquirer
01/05/2006
  

The Simsbury company targeted to provide Connecticut's next generation of voting machines "misled" state officials about a crucial federal approval process, Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz charged Wednesday.

Danaher Controls of Simsbury had indicated as early as last spring, both orally and in writing, that it had applied for federal certification involving its electronic voting machines - but still hadn't as late as Dec. 21, Bysiewicz said.

The secretary of the state announced Wednesday that efforts to convert to new electronic voting machines by November 2006 had come up short and that voters would use the same metal lever machines next fall that have been used in Connecticut since the 1920s.

A representative of the Simsbury company did not return a telephone message left Wednesday. The Journal Inquirer placed a second call early today, but a message indicated the representative's voice mail was full.

"It took some very pointed questions from my staff" during contract negotiations just before Christmas to learn Danaher Controls hadn't yet filed an application with the federal Election Assistance Commission, Bysiewicz said.

Specifically, the company still hadn't sought federal approval for a key function of its machine: the ability to produce a paper receipt showing all ballot ions made by any individual voter.

This function is crucial if Connecticut's new voting machines are to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act, legislation developed after allegations of fraud in the 2000 presidential vote in Florida.

The act was passed to move all states toward voting technologies by November 2006 that have low error rates, provide a paper record of all votes cast so they can be audited, assist voters of different languages, and provide access to blind and handicapped voters.

Danaher Controls was one of 52 firms that participated in a workshop Bysiewicz's office held last February to begin the search for a new voting technology vendor.
It was one of three companies that cleared a pre-qualification process and submitted a bid this fall. The firm also was one of three represented in a November demonstration at the Buckland Hills mall in Manchester, where consumers were allowed to sample three electronic voting machines.

Danaher Controls was chosen last month as the preferred bidder, and contract negotiations began.

Both in paperwork given her office last spring shortly after the workshop, and later through comments made to her staff, Danaher Controls indicated it had applied for federal certification for the paper receipt function within its machines, Bysiewicz said.

"They misled us," she said. "We did not have any information about these misrepresentations until we sat down at the negotiating table" on Dec. 21.

Unfortunately for Connecticut, according to Bysiewicz, no other companies that bid on the project have machines that meet all federal and state requirements for new voting technology.

Connecticut officials have asked the Department of Justice to grant a waiver from the new voting technology requirement so that metal lever machines can be used one more time, in 2006.

Bysiewicz said she may ask the legislature and Gov. M. Jodi Rell to ease state requirements for voting technology and will begin a new nationwide search for a vendor to supply Connecticut with machines for the November 2007 election.