Diebold Inc. is one of several firms competing for the contract to provide voting machines in Ohio. Republican State Senator Jeff Jacobson has asked Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, also a Republican, to disqualify Diebold "after security concerns arose over its equipment." Now it turns out that Diebold CEO Walden O'Dell, as one of George W. Bush's Rangers/Pioneers, promised in a recent fund-raising letter that he is "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year."
So how do the Republicans rationalize this obvious conflict of interest? They say that the accusations against Diebold and O'Dell are unfair, and besides, it's just business as usual. Ok, maybe that's the problem.
O'Dell attended a strategy pow-wow with wealthy Bush benefactors - known as Rangers and Pioneers - at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch earlier this month. The next week, he penned invitations to a $1,000-a-plate fund-raiser to benefit the Ohio Republican Party's federal campaign fund - partially benefiting Bush - at his mansion in the Columbus suburb of Upper Arlington.
The letter went out the day before Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell, also a Republican, was set to qualify Diebold as one of three firms eligible to sell upgraded electronic voting machines to Ohio counties in time for the 2004 election.
In his invitation letter, O'Dell asked guests to consider donating or raising up to $10,000 each for the federal account that the state GOP will use to help Bush and other federal candidates - money that legislative Democratic leaders charged could come back to benefit Blackwell.
They urged Blackwell to remove Diebold from the field of voting-machine companies eligible to sell to Ohio counties.
"Ordinary Ohioans may infer that Blackwell's office is looking past Diebold's security issues because its CEO is seeking $10,000 donations for Blackwell's party - donations that could be made with statewide elected officials right there in the same room," said Senate Democratic Leader Greg DiDonato.
Diebold spokeswoman Michelle Griggy said O'Dell - who was unavailable to comment personally - has held fund-raisers in his home for many causes, including the Columbus Zoo, Op era Columbus, Catholic Social Services and Ohio State University.
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.
Blackwell said Diebold is not the only company with political connections - noting that lobbyists for voting-machine makers read like a who's who of Columbus' powerful and politically connected.
"Let me put it to you this way: If there was one person uniquely involved in the political process, that might be troubling," he said. "But there's no one that hasn't used every legitimate avenue and bit of leverage that they could legally use to get their product looked at. Believe me, if there is a political lever to be pulled, all of them have pulled it."
Blackwell said he stands by the process used for selecting voting machine vendors as fair, thorough and impartial.
Since when can you count on politicians, especially Republicans, to be fair, thorough or impartial?
The real story is that what is happening in Ohio is happening all over the United States, as a handful of corporations with strong political affiliations compete for large and profitable government contracts. Our single most important right as citizens is the right to vote, but without accurate, honest and impartial elections, how can we be sure that our vote counts? Learn more at: blackboxvoting.com.
