As He Blocks Election Security Bills, McConnell Takes Checks from Voting Machine Lobbyists
The bills McConnell is blocking would subject the voting machine vendors to new cybersecurity regulations and could reduce their overall sales to states.
Published on Jun 10, 2019 by Donald Shaw
https://readsludge.com/2019/06/10/as-he-blocks-election-security-bills-mcconnell-takes-checks-from-voting-machine-lobbyists/
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The two largest voting machine vendors in the U.S., Election Systems & Software (ES&S) and Dominion Voting Systems, together supply more than 80% of the nation’s voting machines. The companies have operated extensive lobbying operations in states for years, and both companies recently hired new lobbyists to represent them at the federal level.
ES&S hired lobbying firm Peck Madigan Jones in Oct. 2018 and paid it a combined $150,000 to lobby the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives in the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019. ES&S did not employ any federal lobbyists in 2017, and when they reported lobbying in previous years it was at a much lower level, spending just $10,000 in many quarters. Dominion Voting Systems, which was recently acquired by New York-based hedge fund Staple Street Capital, signed its first-ever federal lobbying contract in January 2019 with Brownstein Hyatt Farber and Schreck and has paid the company at least $30,000 so far to lobby Congress.
Several of the lobbyists working for ES&S and Dominion Voting Systems have recently made contributions to McConnell’s campaign and joint fundraising committee.
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“It’s not surprising to me that Mitch McConnell is receiving these campaign contributions,” the Brennan Center for Justice’s Lawrence Noren told Sludge. “He seems single-handedly to be standing in the way of anything passing in Congress around election security, and that includes things that the vendors might want, like money for the states to replace antiquated equipment.”
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The article also points out that Wyden's PAVE bill falls short of asking for a HAND-MARKED paper ballot -- which unfortunately and dangerously opens the door for Ballot Marking Devices which spit out 100% UNVERIFIABLE PAPER which they classify as paper ballots -- you cannot tell whether the bar code these devices create is actually recording and counting your ballot as you the voter intend.
= new reply since forum marked as read
him out and prosecute him and his lovely bride. 
