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County staffers need more time to check out the competing companies.
By LISA GREENE
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 3, 2001
The choice of a new voting system for Pinellas County appears almost certain to be delayed for a second week, since it will take until at least Wednesday for county staffers to complete checks on voting equipment companies.
"The whole reason for the delay was to find out if there was any other smoke or flames or any hidden issues that hadn't been disclosed," said Commissioner Bob Stewart. "If we're in the middle of an investigation, we're not where we need to be to make a decision."
The longer the delay, the less likely it is that local voters will try out the new touch screen machines in the March municipal elections. If the machines aren't ready then, voters will use them for the first time in a more complex election, the September primary.
Commissioners had planned to give staffers the go-ahead last Tuesday to negotiate a contract with the county's top choice firm, Sequoia Voting Systems.
But a disturbing last-minute revelation -- the Sequoia vice president who would direct Pinellas' installation of the machines has been indicted in a Louisiana elections scandal -- derailed the vote. Commissioners also learned that several top county staffers had heard rumors, in varying detail, of problems with the top voting companies, but didn't investigate them.
So staffers asked commissioners for one week to learn more about the companies that want to sell Pinellas new voting machines. By Friday, they still hoped the checks could be completed Monday afternoon, allowing commissioners to review the information and vote at their scheduled meeting on Tuesday.
But staff members didn't receive information they need to make criminal records checks on voting company employees from those companies until Friday afternoon. Sheriff's employees won't start those checks until Monday morning, and the checks take 48 hours, said Steve Carroll, assistant county administrator.
That means it's smart to put off the decision again, said Commissioner Karen Seel.
"I'd prefer to have all the information," she said. "I would think one more week wouldn't significantly make a difference."
By Friday afternoon, staffers from the county's purchasing, legal and administrator's offices had compiled 3-inch thick notebooks for commissioners.
The notebooks contain newspaper articles from around the country, from California to Louisiana to Florida. They include court documents from the Louisiana case, in which Sequoia vice president Phil Foster is accused of helping obtain inflated prices for voting machines, then paying kickbacks with the extra cash. Foster denies the charges.
Corporate records on the five companies bidding for Pinellas' business are included in the notebooks.
There also are letters from the companies, some of which are cooperating more than others.
Hart Intercivic, the company ranked fourth by a county citizens committee, refused to provide employees' Social Security numbers, citing privacy concerns. Sequoia, which still hopes to land the $15.5-million Pinellas contract, handed over Social Security numbers for 45 employees.
Global Election Systems referred the county to its annual reports to find out more about a civil lawsuit filed against it, while second-ranked Election Systems & Software provided a pagelong summary of one such suit.
Commissioners said they're worried about whether they will find everything they need to know and how the new information will affect their choice.
"In spite of all that's going on, we should try to stay focused on providing the best, most reliable voting equipment for the voters of Pinellas County," Stewart said. "The temptation is to wander off . . . to Louisiana."
The state's elections office also has stressed that any election equipment it certifies will operate properly and can be used without help from the company that makes it. So far, the state has certified equipment from Sequoia, ES&S and Global.
"Floridians can have confidence in the voting systems the Division of Elections has certified," said spokesman David Host.