From the Cincinnati Enquirer
The Butler County Board of Elections voted unanimously this morning to join a lawsuit against a major voting machine maker that provides equipment to more than 30 states and half of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner filed a claim earlier this month seeking damages against Premier Election Solutions for voting system malfunctions that caused problems in 11 counties, including Butler. These malfunctions caused uncounted votes that were later recovered by local election board staff.
Brunner, meanwhile, has said she wants to recover taxpayer dollars used to buy the systems.
Brunner’s legal action is in response to an earlier suit filed by Premier. The company had sought a court order, stating that Premier met all obligations to the state under the contract negotiated by the past administration.
Premier has been under close scrutiny since Butler County raised concerns that at least 105 votes in West Chester Township went missing during the primary.
Early on, the company blamed a combination of human and machine errors for the problem.
Two months after the March mishap, a Premier spokesman said the malfunction was caused by McAfee, the anti-virus software used by the county and the system Premier provides.
Last week, the Texas-based company notified customers in 34 states about a programming error discovered during testing. The problems occur when multiple memory cards are uploaded at the same time.
The possibility of missing votes have been a serious cause for concern, especially in Butler and Warren counties, which were credited for helping President George W. Bush win Ohio and secure his victory in 2004.
As a precaution, Brunner has issued a number of directives for local election boards to follow in November.
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