As we pointed out in our story on Diebold yesterday, AP ran a short piece including an interview with new CEO Tom Swidarski revealing indications that he seems to be looking to unload the beleaguered Diebold Elections Division as part of his $100 million “restructuring plan” as recently promised to share holders.
Shortly after our post about that article, AP reissued the same article, but with an additional quote from Swidarski, a bit more background on Diebold’s many woes (former CEO Walden O’Dell’s promise to deliver the state of Ohio to Bush, etc.) and a new headline: “Diebold chief says fate of e-voting unit under review”.
Looks like they changed their lede after they realized what Swidarski was actually signaling in his comments, which — in the new piece — also includes these two quotes:
…
“There’s pieces and aspects of each of our businesses that I’m going to be looking at with a very critical eye in terms of what the future holds for us,” Swidarski said in his first media interview since taking over in December the company best known for its automatic teller machines and security systems.
Risk within any of Diebold’s businesses will be weighed against profit potential, Swidarski said. “If any of the pieces don’t fit or any of the pieces don’t add the value we think is associated with that risk, then we’ll make appropriate decisions at that point,” he said.
Got that? Diebold is now looking to get the hell out of the Election Business.
Feel free to contact your local Board of Election or Secretary of State who is considering signing a contract with these guys and let them know that Diebold may well not even be there a few months from now!
For more information and key articles on the downfall of Diebold, see this BRAD BLOG Special Coverage Page…
I heard they’re going to drop the voting machines, and put voting on their MAC machines. You can take out $20 and vote for Bush in one transaction. No receipt on the voting portion of the transaction.
But seriously, it looks like Brad & Bev Harris took down DIEBOLD…that’s MASSIVE, BABY!!! 2 patriot!!!
Just watch where this goes, though, as usual…it’s never the end…the next plan is probably being enacted as we speak.
MAYBE THE DEMOCRATS SHOULD BUY THE VOTING MACHINE PORTION FROM DIEBOLD AND FIX THE ELECTION FOR THEIR SIDE NEXT TIME.
sorry, bout the CAPS.
So as comes the end of an era, so comes the end of DIEBOLD…..
Tell everyone you know that VOTE PAD is the way to go and pass the word, strip Diebold’s source code so we can all analyze it…
Apparently these criminals (with the case still going to trial) need to be taught a permanent lesson. Jeffrey Dean and his flunkies, and of course, those who hired Clint Curtis need to be made to go to jail. And there needs to be no more Diebold machines ever again…..
Oh speaking of which, who’s got the update on ES&S private trading shares? :laugh:
Doug E
What is diebold’s ticker symbol? I want to watch that stock plummet! I hope this is a signal to other would be voting companies to run it clean or get run out of town.
Hmmm this is interesting..How are the wing nuts going to steal elections if diebold bows out? I’m sure they have a backup plan.
#6 They do have a back up. It’s called Dictatorship.
As a former broker, I know how Wall Street thinks. And it wouldn’t surprise me if the stock rallied here, if only for the short term.
Wall Street loves companies that rid themselves of
"problem divisions." It’s seen as great leadership on the part of management. "Put that behind us, and let’s move on" is the thinking. Wall Street doesn’t give two shit particles about morality inside the boardroom, it’s all about the bottom line. And traders might just assume that things will improve with the voting machine issue behind them.
This makes it almost a lead-pipe certainty that Diebold will settle the class-action suits, as part of the same process.
Yes, but Diebold isn’t the be all and end all of electronic vote rigging. According to one report I read, the fraudulent votes that made the most difference to the 2004 election result in Florida came from ES&S optiscanners.
In other words, all the opprobrium seems to have been attached to Diebold so that when the ‘Diebold problem’ is fixed people with think that the votes will no longer be.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Next stop ES&S and Sequoia, Brad?
Diebold got charged by the Security Exchange
Commission but I don’t know what the charges
were for. Anybody know??
How about the way the CEO flippantly says they’re thinking of dropping the vote machine part of their company because it’s not profitable.
Doesn’t that prove that the caretakers of our democracy should not be in the profits sector? Doesn’t this prove that they cared about profits more than our voting rights, by so flippantly saying, "Hey, let’s drop the vote machine crap, it’s not making us enough money"!!!
This is a crime on top of a crime!!! The way their comments imply that they were in it for the profits, and not for the integrity of making sure everyone’s vote was safe and was counted!!! I’m nailing him on his own words!!! Proving the way DIEBOLD really thought about voting all along!!!
The f***ing CEO is admitting his shareholders are more important than the voters he was entrusted to keep our democracy!!! GODDAMMIT!!!
A corporation exists primarily and above all else for the benfit of it’s sharholders.
However, if it wants to continue to be a viable concern, it should, secondly, strive to provide a long term benefit to its customers.
Thirdly, a corporation should strive to provide a long term benefit to society as a whole, first nationally and then internationally.
Finally, a corporation should strive to provide a long term benefit to mother Earth.
We should be looking at who might be buying Diebold’s election division. I’m sure they won’t just shut it down. Can you think of any potential buyers?
I can see some neocon front or religious extremist group behind a such a acquisition. Nobody in their right mind in other words.
RLM #8 said:
"it wouldn’t surprise me if the stock rallied here"
This would seem to bear that out!
(Scroll down to the paragraph headed by "Banking on a rebound")
OT
Have you all seen this yet?
US Planning Massive Data Mining
While this is beautiful news, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Want to know about ALL the major e-vote vendors? The link below is the BEST place to get all the info you need to find out all of them are f’ed…
WHO’S COUNTING
The above link goes directly to "The Companies" Chapter. Check out the rest of the site. It’s not only informative but an entertaining read as well! Promise!
Eternal thanks Brad and John for staying so on top of all this! You guys are my inspiration and frequent sources for the "Updates, Actions and Reactions" Chapter!
Bluebear2 and everyone re: article linked at #16 –
A good org to bookmark, sign up for their email updates, keep current with, and as always support if you can.
http://www.eff.org/
I’m not unhappy to see them, or any like them, go down the tubes. We’re better off without these crooks (though we’re still left with the others).
What troubles me is: it feels like closing the barn door after the horse got out.
So since the next election will most likely be fixed, why doesn’t someone just rig it so one the smaller, lesser known parties wins?
That way, it will be so freaken obvious that the system is broken. Nobody, not even the authoritarian fools can deny it.
Then it might only take the MSM 50 years, instead of 1000 years, to acknowledge there’s a problem.
One can only hope.
I agree with Posts #6 and #7.
It seems to me that Diebold fulfilled its mission… and it is time for the neo cons to move on to bigger, better things.
If Diebold is the waste they leave in their wake, I sure as hell would be scared to see what these neocons have up their sleeves next…
Post #7 – Jeff… while you are correct in your assessment, please remember that what you are describing is the END not the MEANS.
You know that a dying tyrranical power will never give up their control without an End Times (read: Armageddon) type of fight.
Until that day arrives, they will seek to maintain and retain and regain power on a more and more extreme level.
Everyone needs to check this out…
Loads of court documents on Diebold…
They are releasing all the source code immediately because of a judge’s order. Soon it will ALL be in huge chunks and being dissected.
Courts must hit the discovery process hard in Ohio and we must access those memory cards. We HAVE to get access…
Meanwhile, someone else can strip the code away from ES&S now with no interference. Because Sequoia has, bit its bullet, and is being run out all over various states and has had to provide its code. ES&S on the other hand, has been very secretive (Diebold’s brother company) and using private shareholders.
AutoMark and so on is fine, as long as the parent company is transparent with the public…ES&S isn’t there at all yet and they need to start the demonstrations. Bring a video camera, thats what I’ve learned in every instance.
Doug
The neo-cons won’t fight for their imperialistic agenda
The ones in power now and their minions, are a bunch
of chickenshits hell bent for power and control
But they do have enough power to use the military,
If the military turns against them, they will run with their tails between their legs, these f**ers are cowards with only money in mind
With all the church burnings and more phony evacuations
of the Capital Bldg, Is the Patriot Act 2 nearing a vote or what ? (also looks like their purposefully stirring up the Muslims too)
Sorry to be OT again, but I think this is part of the whole picture, I read this by Maureen Farrell and it fired me up to see all the things they have done lumped together
Oh yeah, RLM #8,
Didn’t Die-bold just buy most of their stock back ?
Would seem appropriate for those crooks
NealDeal: Excellent comment. I’ve been saying all along, you can’t go through the proper channels to expose vote fraud on electronic machines. It takes too long, and the GOP is running everything and stonewalling.
The best thing to do to expose it, is to hack it the other way. I’ve been saying that for a year. Great comment, NealDeal.
If they hacked it and a 3rd party won, the very next day they’d get rid of the voting machines, because Corporate America doesn’t want a party it can’t control. Good way to take back America: Hack the machines so Nader, Cobb, or Bednarik are president. Take your pick…they are all better than any of the chumps in the major party (the Republo-Crats).
Big Dan #12
Good point. Greed and filthy lucre have no proper part in electioneering.
BlueBear2 #16
Wonder if Diebold is involved in the data mining (a.k.a. Domestic Spying) machines? This is the new generation of ESCHELON spying that has been going on for years. It is used against political opponents.
Its not over, even if Diebold sells off its voting machine division. Not even close.
Someone (i.e. corporation or group of wealthy investors) will buy it. There are still contracts in place with the vast majority of states.
We may wind up with even less control of the situation than we had before.
Thanks Brad for staying on top of the voting issues.
In Diebold’s conference call with analysts on Jan. 31, Diebold’s spokesperson said that in looking forward on the election division earnings, one should only consider the first half of the year 2006. They mumbled something about how the second half of the year, election officials would be running elections, and Diebold would be spending their time helping, not selling new equipment.
The real truth may be that Diebold plans to divest itself of the election division by then, and/or that they believe the HAVA deadline will not be extended, therefore the federal money pool will have expired.
Source — I was listening to about half of the call.
I like Pokey, he seem like a good friend to us
Now when Gumby comes forward…
I guess diebold has done their damage. How do we make sure voting is non-partisan. Elections should not be won or loss due to real or preceived unfairness.
So another republican will buy it change it’s name and history will forget? Is that what the plan is, appears so to me?
Every one like the BS today about the wiretapping stopping an attack on the LA Tower….BS alert! If that were so, he would have used in pre second election fraud! Then Fox shows the alien movie version of the towers being nailed to further scare the idiots that believe their wag the dog nonense! It’s shamful and someone with authority and clout ought to stand up and call bushit, chain-me, rumshit, condaliar, wolflick and others big f’g liars on national live TV! Any live shows scheduled for FOX?
I’d also like to know more about the ex-felon that Diebold hired in King County, Wash to work on software. I understand him to have been in prison as late as 2004. Or maybe King Co. hired him to "program" Diebold voting machines. Anybody know about this?
Joan
His name was Jeffrey Dean, and like I stated he hired many..a multitude of fellow programmers. That will be the final bullet in Diebold’s coffin for sure, his court cases are still actually going on:
All about Jeffrey Dean: Manages and created the ‘mail in voting’ software packages…
Doug
Diebold : You maybe able to get up to a dime on the dollar for all that Electronic Salvage your KERRY-ING. . . !