Election.com, a privately held New York-based election software firm, currently holds a contract with the Defense Department to provide online absentee ballot voting for the U.S. military in 2004.
However, Election.com also recently revealed that its majority stockholders were a group of Saudi businessmen who did not want their names to be known.
According to a February 2003 article published in Newsday by Mark Harrington, in "a letter sent to a select group of well-heeled Election.com investors Jan. 21, the online voting and voter registration company disclosed that the investment group Osan Ltd. paid $1.2 million to acquire 20 million preferred shares to control 51.6 percent of the voting power."
According to the Newsday article, Osan Ltd. purchased "passive control" of Election.com using money obtained from foreign sources. Osan Ltd. is described as an investment group made up of unnamed Saudi businessmen.
However, Osan may not be a Saudi firm after all. According to information provided by the Yemen Ministry of Trade, Osan Investment is reportedly located in the city of Sana'a, inside Yemen.
Yemen is the family home of Osama bin Laden and is currently regarded by intelligence officials as a haven for members of the al-Qaeda terrorist group. The State Department continues to warn U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen.
According to the State Department, "the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States elevated security concerns for Americans in Yemen that already were high, following a number of terrorist actions and kidnapping incidents over the past few years."
"Previous incidents included the October 2000 attack on a U.S. Navy vessel in port at Aden, which resulted in the death of 17 American servicemen and women, and the December 1998 kidnapping of 16 Western tourists, four of whom were killed in a clash between the terrorists and Yemeni government forces. Further, armed tribesmen in Yemen have kidnapped a number of foreigners in attempts to resolve disputes with the Yemeni government."
The Election.com link to anonymous Saudi money raised the possibility that a U.S. government contract might be funding terrorist operations. The questionable ownership status is now about to change the Garden City election company.
According to a source inside Election.com, a major shake-up in company ownership is about to take place that "will render the Saudi story a moot point." The source, who requested anonymity, stated that the Election.com ownership would change by early next week.
Election.com currently has a contract with the Federal Voter Assistance program and is slated to provide online absentee ballot voting for the U.S. armed services. The online voting is expected to be ballotless and completely electronic.
The online voting company also teamed with Accenture Corporation to win a five-year, multimillion-dollar contract from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of State to build and deploy a centralized voter registration and election management system using Election.com's Election Systems Manager software.
The system, designed to help election officials in Pennsylvania's 67 counties maintain accurate and reliable voter registration records, will be known as the Statewide Uniform Registry of Electors system, or SURE.
Accenture officials confirmed that they were aware of the ownership situation with Election.com.
"We talked to Election.com about their structure," stated Accenture spokesman Peter Soh.
"We are aware of Election.com's ownership status – as is our client, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Osan Ltd. is an investment firm made up of Saudi and other foreign investors. They are passive investors only. Election.com is run by U.S. employees," stated Soh.
Despite the re-assurances, the sudden change in Election.com's ownership comes only after questions were raised surrounding Osan Ltd. and whether it is a Saudi or Yemeni company.
There are also many questions about Election.com's capability to provide accurate and reliable election services. Election.com recently provided online Internet voting for Canada's National Democratic Party (NDP).
However, the NDP voting in January 2003 was disrupted by a computer hack attack as thousands across the country tried to log on and cast ballots using the Internet.
According to a report published by the CBC, Earl Hurd of Election.com said he believed that someone used a "denial of service" program to disrupt the voting, "paralyzing the central computer by bombarding it with a stream of data."
The accuracy of Election.com's Internet voting software has also come under fire. One Canadian voter rights advocate has challenged the "ballot less" software provided by Election.com.
"Party leadership races are not controlled by provincial statute. All parties have used alleged, unverifiable, bogus, ballot less, telephone – Internet voting for their leadership – primary races," stated Brent M.P. Beleskey the director of the Canadian International Voters Coalition.
"Speaking as a Canadian, the invasion of the Election.com alleged ballot less computerized Internet voting is a corporate crime against my sacred freedoms and liberties. Since November 2000 when a CBC documentary was aired across Canada, of which Election.com was interviewed, I have put forth a challenge on the creditability of Election.com and other election corporations like them. And have heard no response to my allegations," stated Beleskey.
Charles Smith will be on:
The American Freedom Network with NewsMax contributor Dr. James Hirsen on Friday, 5/30/03, at 11 a.m. Eastern time. Show information at http://www.amerifree.com.
The Jerry Hughes show on Friday, 5/30/03, at 3 p.m. Eastern time. Show information at http://www.cilamerica.com.
The Phil Paleologos "American Breakfast" show on Tuesday, 6/03/03, the Langer Broadcast Network, at 8 a.m. Eastern time. Show information at www.dinershow.com.
The Al Rantel show, KABC in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, 6/3/03, at 10 p.m. Eastern time.
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