Venezuelan Ownership of Smartmatic: Technically accurate but misleading...
This piece is from the pro-Chavez website www.vheadline.com.
Miami Herald (Jack A. Blaine): Re: Richard Brand's March 27 Other Views piece, Forget Dubai -- worry about Smartmatic instead. Contrary to Brand's implications, Smartmatic's electronic-voting system with an auditable paper trail performed well in 2004s recall referendum in Venezuela.
International observers from the Carter Center and the Organization of American States monitored and audited the election and upheld Venezuelan President Huga Chavez's win.
In fact, the Carter Center's final report investigated all charges, saying, "The audit concluded the voting machines did accurately reflect the intent of the voters as evidenced by a recount of the paper ballots in a sample of machines..."
"The Center found no evidence of fraud.''
Brand alleges that Smartmatic's partner in the recall referendum was ''partly owned by the Venezuelan government.'' This is technically accurate but misleading. Specifically, the Venezuelan Industrial Credit Fund -- the equivalent of the US Small Business Administration -- did hold a 28% non-permanent, minority equity position in Bizta via a routine loan. A member of the consortium that handled the recall, Bizta adapted the voting software to enable it to include the manual vote. Bizta repaid the loan before the referendum.
Smartmatic Corp. is a US company, incorporated in Delaware with principal offices in Boca Raton. No shares in Smartmatic have ever been held by a foreign government. A controlling interest is held by its founder and CEO, Antonio Mugica, a dual Spanish and Venezuelan citizen. Before its merger with Smartmatic in 2005, Sequoia was owned by a British company, which had purchased it from another European company. Neither owner was in the voting industry.
The notion that hostile foreigners have acquired influence in the US voting process doesn't stand up.
All Sequoia Voting Systems software has been tested by federal independent testing authorities, qualified by the federal government and certified by individual states.
Moreover, Sequoia is a US leader in Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail technology, which combines electronic systems with a fully auditable paper trail, one Americans can see and approve.
Jack A. Blaine is president of Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc., Oakland, Calif.
Miami Herald (Jack A. Blaine): Re: Richard Brand's March 27 Other Views piece, Forget Dubai -- worry about Smartmatic instead. Contrary to Brand's implications, Smartmatic's electronic-voting system with an auditable paper trail performed well in 2004s recall referendum in Venezuela.
International observers from the Carter Center and the Organization of American States monitored and audited the election and upheld Venezuelan President Huga Chavez's win.
In fact, the Carter Center's final report investigated all charges, saying, "The audit concluded the voting machines did accurately reflect the intent of the voters as evidenced by a recount of the paper ballots in a sample of machines..."
"The Center found no evidence of fraud.''
Brand alleges that Smartmatic's partner in the recall referendum was ''partly owned by the Venezuelan government.'' This is technically accurate but misleading. Specifically, the Venezuelan Industrial Credit Fund -- the equivalent of the US Small Business Administration -- did hold a 28% non-permanent, minority equity position in Bizta via a routine loan. A member of the consortium that handled the recall, Bizta adapted the voting software to enable it to include the manual vote. Bizta repaid the loan before the referendum.
Smartmatic Corp. is a US company, incorporated in Delaware with principal offices in Boca Raton. No shares in Smartmatic have ever been held by a foreign government. A controlling interest is held by its founder and CEO, Antonio Mugica, a dual Spanish and Venezuelan citizen. Before its merger with Smartmatic in 2005, Sequoia was owned by a British company, which had purchased it from another European company. Neither owner was in the voting industry.
The notion that hostile foreigners have acquired influence in the US voting process doesn't stand up.
All Sequoia Voting Systems software has been tested by federal independent testing authorities, qualified by the federal government and certified by individual states.
Moreover, Sequoia is a US leader in Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail technology, which combines electronic systems with a fully auditable paper trail, one Americans can see and approve.
Jack A. Blaine is president of Sequoia Voting Systems, Inc., Oakland, Calif.
posted by ConcernedVoter06 at 12:54 PM
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