From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:
Columbus - The head of a company vying to sell voting machines in Ohio told Republicans in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."The Aug. 14 letter from Walden O'Dell, chief executive of Diebold Inc. - who has become active in the re-election effort of President Bush - prompted Democrats this week to question the propriety of allowing O'Dell's company to calculate votes in the 2004 presidential election.
. . .
Ohio GOP spokesman Jason Mauk said the party approached O'Dell about hosting the event at his home, the historic Cotswold Manor, and not the other way around. Mauk said that under federal campaign finance rules, the party cannot use any money from its federal account for state- level candidates.
"To think that Diebold is somehow tainted because they have a couple folks on their board who support the president is just unfair," Mauk said.
Wow, does this ever stink to high heaven. To Mr. Mauk: the CEO is not the same as "a couple folks on their board." That's like dismissing George W. Bush as just "some guy in government." As far as I'm concerned, any private company or individual involved in any way with counting ballots needs to stay completely away from any involvement with partisan politics. Period.
Posted by Jason at August 28, 2003 05:45 PM