Diebold Trys To Sell Its Elections Divison as Company’s Credibility Suffers
Diebold Inc. is the principle manufacturer of Touch Screen Voting Machines that appear to have design flaws that make it easy for election officials and others to alter vote counts and high jack elections. The company has been severely criticized for also being a large political donor to the Republican Party. The Company’s machines are implicated in numerous complaints of vote fraud, principally in Ohio and Florida during the 2004 and 2006 elections cycles.
Apparently they have decided that the potential fines and penalties are so great as to warrant the immediate sale of the Voting Machines Division. Such a sale would normally contain legal documentation to “seal off” the parent corporation’s liability for past actions and liability.
In any event, the New York Times reports that Diebold Inc. has been trying unsuccessfully to sell the division for some time. The aforementioned liability issues may be one stumbling point.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Diebold Inc. confirmed on Thursday what had been widely speculated since January: That it tried and failed to sell its often criticized voting technology business.
Instead, the company said, it will allow the unit to operate more independently, giving it a separate board of directors and perhaps a new management structure.
Diebold touch-screen voting machines are used in elections across the country, often amid criticism that the technology can be manipulated. The company has insisted touch-screen voting is reliable and an improvement over punch-card ballots that resulted in a complicated and difficult recount in Florida during the 2000 presidential election.
Diebold also slashed its revenue outlook $120 million for the year from its earlier full-year guidance of $185 million to $215 million for that segment because of delays by several states in purchasing voting equipment. The lowered revenue outlook, a cut of 56 percent to 65 percent, will slash the company’s earnings by 27 cents per share for the year. Diebold did not rule out later selling part or all of the realigned business. Click here to read more in the New York Times.