The Indianapolis Star Feb. 6, 2004 Greenwood, IN -- Members of the Johnson County Election Board on Thursday blasted a representative from Election Systems & Software for providing allegedly illegal voting equipment during last year's general election. The state's election commission had not certified the software used in the machines as reliable and accurate, which meant counties should not have used it. The company left Johnson County officials with the impression that everything they had received was approved by the state, election board member Jean Harmon said. Voters in Wayne and Henry counties also used the machines. ES&S representative Wesley Wiley read a statement from the company standing by the reliability of machines but saying that the equipment had all been returned to a previous version of the software that was certified by the state. ARTICLE CONTINUES

Background information — Vote fraud "That reinstallation is complete," he said. "Our focus now is to make sure voters, election administrators and poll workers are educated about the systems." That may not be enough, Harmon said. "When you sold the equipment to the county, you told us the equipment was certified," she told Wiley. "We held an illegal election. We have every reason to doubt this company and their equipment, its integrity." Wiley said he hopes the state will still approve the most recent version of the software in time for this year's election. There is no penalty under Indiana law for using illegal equipment to conduct an election.

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