Leon County Supervisor of Elections Ion Sancho is set to meet next week with representatives of Diebold Election Systems, which had earlier refused to do business with him after he conducted tests last year on Diebold machines.
The meeting has been set for April 14, said County Commissioner Jane Sauls, who expressed optimism that it would end with a deal to secure voting equipment. The state has set a May 1 deadline for Leon County to buy voting equipment for the disabled that's required by the federal Help America Vote Act.
"I hope we're going to come out with a contract to buy new equipment, to buy whatever we need to be HAVA compliant," she said. Last year, Sancho and computer experts tested the county's Diebold voting machines and found that the memory cards could be manipulated from within the Elections Office to change results without anyone ever knowing. Although Diebold stood by its equipment, California's Voting Systems Technology Assessment Advisory Board corroborated Sancho's findings.
The tests led to a falling out between Sancho and Diebold. Representatives of the Allen, Texas, company told county officials earlier this year that they wanted to do business with Leon County, but would not sell to Sancho. Two other companies, Election Systems and Software and Sequoia Voting Systems, also opted not to sell machines to Leon County, which led Sancho to miss a Jan. 1 deadline to have the equipment.
Sancho now is in talks with IVS, a Louisville, Ky., company, to buy voting machines that can be used by the disabled. However, Sancho said in a recent interview that he's willing to take another look at Diebold.
Sauls said that while IVS might be Sancho's first choice, she's not sure how feasible that option is because the state hasn't certified IVS to sell equipment in Florida.
"I don't know whether that will be in place in time," she said of IVS' certification. "And the county's goal is to get us HAVA compliant."
The meeting likely will be closed to the public at Diebold's request, Sauls added. She said that neither she nor Sancho mind having it open, but that Diebold representatives asked for a private meeting to possibly negotiate a contract. A Diebold representative could not be contacted for this article.
On March 29, Attorney General Charlie Crist issued subpoenas to Diebold and the other two companies certified in Florida as part of a probe into why they wouldn't sell their machines to Leon County. That same day, Secretary of State Sue Cobb wrote a letter to Sauls saying that Diebold had agreed to a meeting.
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