Through intensive lobbying, cronyism, wining, and dining, voting machine contracts are sold in the United States. In Denver, at a recent national conference, the attendees, clerks, election officials, and treasurers, were treated to formal dinners and other perks, including fine complimentary briefcases inscribed with Sequoia’s company logo alongside the organization’s own emblem. Sequoia is one of the three major voting machine companies to share government contracts. Diebold and ES&S are the other two. 

When Sequoia's southern regional sales manager, Phil Foster, was indicted in Louisiana a couple of years ago for "conspiracy to commit money laundering and malfeasance," one would think this would cause some trepidation by our elected officials. Regrettably, it did not. In fact, the charges were dropped in exchange for Foster’s testimony against Louisiana's state commissioner of elections. Apparently, saving Foster and sacrificing the commissioner seemed more worthwhile.

Why is vote-tampering mostly directed at the Republicans? It is understandable that many conservatives question what seems to be a one-sided attack. The answer is simple; the big three touchscreen providers are all major Republican donors, who dump hundreds of thousands of dollars into supporting republican candidates. The ownership issue is even more egregious because of their lack of transparency. These companies have all been notorious for refusing to reveal information about their voting systems in the light of allegations that began in 2000. As expert Dr Mercuri said: "If the machines were independently verifiable, who would give a crap who owns them?" Unfortunately, these machines are not independently verifiable and there are too many states and voting districts that are unwilling to abandon use of them. Their resistance to change spurs even more suspicion among American voters. Who are the players behind this strange attitude? 

The roster of radical right wing personalities is quite extensive. Billionaire Howard Ahmanson, a reclusive fundamentalist -- Christian philanthropist from Orange County, CA. heads the list. Suffering from Tourette's syndrome, most of his public statements are made by his wife, Roberta. During the 1970s, Ahmanson became a disciple of R. J. Rushdoony, an Armenian cleric who preached the doctrine of "reconstructionism", a brand of Christian fundamentalism that advocates strict governance by Old Testament law. Ahmanson provided capital to brothers Bob and Todd Urosevich, the founders of ES&S (previously American Information Systems) the company that provides the unreliable electronic voting machines without paper trail verification that millions of American voters have been using and will be using this November 2008. In addition, Ahmanson regularly donates to numerous Republican candidates. 

In the early 1980s, Bob and Todd Urosevich (Vice Pres.) started ES&S as a company called Data Mark. Bob Urosevich is head of IMark, the creator of the software architecture used in many US voting machines and part of the management of Premier Election Systems (formerly Diebold Election Systems). Thomas W. Swidarski replaced Urosevich as President of Diebold Election Systems in the second half of 2004; the same year George W. Bush was re-elected after defeating John Kerry. 

Today, Bob Urosevich heads the Ohio-based Diebold Election Systems, a competitor of ES&S and the second largest U.S. manufacturer of electronic voting machines. Together, the computerized ballot scanners and touch-screen voting machines made by ES&S and Diebold recorded about 80 percent of all votes cast in the last U.S. presidential election. Moreover, Ahmanson is a zealous financial supporter of the Chalcedon Foundation, an extremist group that actively espouses Christian Recontructionism. ES&S and Diebold both are contributors to the Chalcedon Foundation, as well.

Founded in 1965, The Chalcedon Foundation promotes the belief that civil conduct should be based on strict Biblical laws. In fact, they advocate severe punishment for: homosexuality, adultery, incest, lying about one's virginity, bestiality, witchcraft, idolatry, apostasy, blasphemy, "false prophesying," kidnapping, rape and perjury. The organization espouses theocratic governance according to a literal reading of the Bible and advocates the death penalty for homosexuals and blasphemy. Many Southern Baptist ministers try to distance themselves from The Chalcedon Foundation and Reconstructionism.

Instrumental in jump-starting the career of right-wing intellectual and author Martin Olasky, Ahmanson funded four of Olasky’s 30 books. In addition, Ahmanson funded Michelle Goldberg’s book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, which credited Olasky with the crucial role of establishing Christian Fundamentalism and Dominionism. Goldberg notes that the phrase associated with Republicans, "compassionate conservatism," is in the title of one of Olasky’s books, and that Olasky was an advisor on Bush’s first Presidential campaign, which influenced not only the thinking of Bush, but the thinking of the Republican Party. In 1995, it was Olasky who became an occasional advisor to then Texas gubernatorial candidate George W. Bush Jr., who enacted many of Olasky's policy recommendations during his term as governor of Texas. 

Walden O'Dell, Diebold’s chairman and chief executive immediately quit when the company came under fire for its electronic voting machines during the last election, when suspicions of voter fraud cropped up in Ohio. Thomas Swidarski replaced O’Dell amid controversy over voting machine failures and his fund-raising for Pres Bush. Diebold spokesman, Mike Jacobsen, refused to elaborate on his resignation. 

I must conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that corporate interests as perpetrated by the three big Republican owned voting machine companies are hijacking US democracy. In conclusion, billionaire Ahmanson, The Chalcedon Foundation, the management of Diebold, ES&S‘s electronic voting machines, members and candidates of the Republican Party, George Bush, author and journalist Martin Olasky, the religious extremists, Reconstructionists, and Dominionists, are all closely connected in the voting process. 

For Diebold to choose Ohio, a key swing state, to make as its headquarters must be no accident. Furthermore, to believe that it was just another mere coincidence that George Bush’s brother, Jeb Bush, was the governor of Florida, where the first voting debacle occurred has become increasingly less plausible. The 2000 Presidential election led to the Supreme Court crowning George Bush President. So is it not understandable that millions of Americans consider George W. Bush, a king, who was not fairly elected by the people? Is part of the vast disapproval for George W. Bush also attributable to this? 

That Bob Urosevich, the voting machine software developer, who received funds from Howard Ahmanson, a known extremist and powerful mogul, cannot rest well with most Americans. How could a responsible government dedicated to providing its nation the promise of free elections deny an exhaustive inquiry at this point? 

The very foundation of America’s constitutional government depends on acknowledging the will of its voters. Without a trustworthy method of recording the votes of the electorate, can there even be a government of the people? What trust can Americans have in a system that is poisoned by special interests and the corrupt influence from radical fundamentalists? Should not all concerned Americans call on their representatives in Washington to uncover the full truth?