(also available at Calitics)

Secretary of State Debra Bowen is taking it to unscrupulous voting machine vendors, after having completed her investigation into the illegal sale of thousands of machines that were not certified for use in California. ES&S would be on the hook for millions if this suit is successful. Chron:

"ES&S ignored the law over and over and over again, and it got caught," Bowen said in a statement after filing suit against the company. "I am not going to stand on the sidelines and watch a voting system vendor come into the state, ignore the laws and make millions of dollars from California's taxpayers in the process."

Bowen's decision could be a windfall for the affected counties. In the suit, the secretary of state is seeking a $10,000 penalty for each of the uncertified machines sold in the state, with half that fine intended to go to the counties that bought them.

ES&S also would have to reimburse the counties for the full cost of the machines, but the counties would be able to keep the AutoMARKs, which are now slated to receive full state certification in early December.

The reimbursement rule was added to the state election code in 2004 in an effort to boost the penalties against companies that ignore the state's certification rules, Bowen said.

Bowen is simply enforcing existing laws. I am sure the counties would not mind a few extra million dollars.

"I was surprised to see this happen," Bowen said in a telephone conference call Monday afternoon. "I hope this will be the last time I have to use (the new penalties)."

The threat of the penalties was clearly not enough to dissuade the voting machine companies from selling non-certified machines. Perhaps the actual paying of the fines will ensure they follow California law.

At a hearing last month in Sacramento, company officials argued that because only minor changes had been made to the original AutoMARK, there was no need to get the upgraded version certified.

By reporting the changes last year to an independent federal testing authority, which agreed that only minimal modifications had been made, the company met its state reporting requirements, Fields said.

But Bowen said there is no ambiguity in the law.

"Changes ... must be submitted to the secretary of state before a voting machine can be sold or used in California," she said. "California law doesn't ask the manufacturer to decide whether the changes are small or large or medium-size."

California only learned about the changes when an ES&S representative inadvertently mentioned the new version of the AutoMARK in a telephone conference call with state election officials. The company never even mentioned to the state or the five counties that changes had been made to the machines that were shipped, Bowen said.

The United States has a federal system of government. Companies do not get to pick and choose which laws they have to follow. The actions of ES&S were deceitful and illegal. And now there is a strong tenacious Secretary of State going after them. Go Debra Go!