Request for Question Clarification by
czh-ga
on
08 Apr 2003 12:11 PDT
Hello zoon-ga,
I’ve started researching your question and I regret to report that I
haven’t been able to locate anything that could be construed as
negative criticism of Accenture’s performance on Maryland’s HAVA
implementation. I’ve found some negative reporting about Accenture’s
association with election.com and their lobbying activities as well
some resources related to Accenture’s election practice in other
states and some information about other vendors in Maryland. I could
provide additional information along these lines. Please let me know
if this would meet your needs so I can post an answer. Thanks.
czh
http://www.citypaper.com/2002-12-11/feature.html
Future Vote -- Computerized Balloting is Taking Over Elections In
Maryland--But Can We Trust the Results?
Baltimore City Paper, December 11 - December 17, 2002
This fall, voters in four Maryland counties for the first time cast
ballots on computerized voting machines using a technology called
"direct recording electronic" (DRE), a system that Baltimoreans have
been using since 1998. The whole state is scheduled to switch over to
a unified computer voting system by 2006, but DRE system skeptics
question the system's security because, just like the Breeders' Cup
betting scandal, it could be rigged using computer code. … At the
federal level, the lobbying activity by Election.com is notable.
Billing itself as "the global election company," Election.com provides
computer election services and aims to talk the federal government
into staging a national online computer election.
http://www.securepoll.com/Archives/Archive45.htm
New voter rolls arouse more fears
An accurate and reliable voter database has eluded Florida. Now
another outside company is hired to design a system.
St. Petersburg Times, December 3, 2001
State elections director Clay Roberts says the Legislature did not
require the study and provided no money for it. Instead, the state
will pay $1.6-million to Accenture, a giant consulting firm and
partner with the state in various ventures, to design, but not
operate, a "turnkey" system by next June that will be updated daily
from election offices across the state. … Accenture, formerly Andersen
Consulting, beat out three rivals in part because of an alliance with
election.com, a firm that helped create the statewide voter
registration database in Arkansas. … Accenture is represented by the
lobbying firm of Poole, McKinley and Blosser, a firm with Republican
ties. But the company said the database contract involved no lobbying.
Craft said he had no contact from any company lobbyists.
http://www.election.com/us/pressroom/pr2001/0205a.htm
Accenture and election.com Announce Alliance to Market Services and
Solutions to Modernize Election Systems
Washington, D.C., February 5, 2001 - Accenture, formerly known as
Andersen Consulting, and election.com, the leading global election
software and services company, today announced an alliance to jointly
deliver comprehensive election solutions to governments worldwide. …
With this alliance, Accenture plans to take its 15-year-old election
practice in new directions, as it seeks to meet current government
needs.
