Diebold Now Also Under DoJ Investigation as Stock Price Hits FIVE-YEAR Low

[BradBlog]

Source: BRAD BLOG, Crain's Ohio Business

Diebold Now Also Under DoJ Investigation as Stock Price Hits FIVE-YEAR Low!
Once-Great, Now-Disgraced American Company Also Facing SEC Probe, Lawsuits, Upcoming 2008 Election Meltdowns
Not to Say We Told Ya So, Diebold Shareholders...

The death spiral for the 131 year-old company, once respectfully known as Diebold, continues, as its stock price falls to a 5-year low near year's end (currently $29.23/share and still sinking today) today, along with the news that the U.S. Department of Justice has now joined the SEC in an investigation concerning their bookkeeping tricks...



FULL COVERAGE, AND MORE ON THE REMARKABLE FALL AND FALL OF DIEBOLD:
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5468

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5468

[Taverner]

1. Time to sell short on this stock

:) There is money to be made in the misfortune of others...

[olddad56]

13. It is a little late to short it.

[gristy]

18. timing is everything

I shorted them a couple years ago and lost. Very glad to see the plug may have finally been pulled, though.

[LynzM]

2. About damn time.

jacking around with our elections is dispicable (or enabling it, etc.) and they OUGHT to be disgraced.

[Taverner]

3. I'm hoping the entire company goes UNDER UNDER UNDER

I got money banking on it!!!!!

[MadMaddie]

11. They should be prosecuted for Fraud and maybe Treason.

This is serious shit that they have intentionally done.

I hope their stock keeps sinking and they go bankrupt they deserve it.

What's the saying, "Everything that touches or that touches him turns to shit"!! Good....

[Seabiscuit]

16. What they've done IS treasonous, and they all deserve the same fate as Mussolini.

[MadMaddie]

40. Seabiscuit...I agree with you and I believe that many others

the have committed crimes against the Constitution should suffer the same fate.

[Seabiscuit]

41. And the "many others" would be... the entire Bush administration, at least half of Congress,

...not to mention the RNC, Blackwater, Haliburton, KBR, GE, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

[MadMaddie]

42. You got it....and it's a never ending list isn't it?

[femrap]

37. I want their CEO

to be tried for Treason! Wally has since been fired...wonder where he is now?

[Bitwit1234]

4. They did their job...and I bet they got paid handsomely

[AndyTiedye]

5. They Should Sell Their Election Division to the EFF for $1

They might be able to salvage the rest of the company then.
The Election Division dragged the whole company down.

The pathetically bad security on the voting machines has cast doubt on their other products.

Bankers having nightmares of their customers hitting the jackpot on their ATMs!

[Bolo Boffin]

6. If they will juggle their books...

...why wouldn't they juggle our votes?

[Spinzonner]

7. A Bush DOJ 'investigation'

is just another name for stalling, stonewalling, suppressing evidence, and corrupting the judicial process on behalf of the Bush Administration

[BradBlog]

10. Maybe, maybe not...

The fact is, the DoJ didn't *have* to get into this, as far as I can tell.

If I can learn more on the specifics of WHO is doing the DOJ investigation I will. There are still some very good career staffers in there, doing good work WHEN they are allowed to do so!

Of course, will let all know when/if I can learn anything more substantively...

[aquart]

8. Not. Low. Enough.

I want those murder-by-proxy bastards to be begging in crowded soup kitchens. Dying in hospital waiting rooms.

[pleah]

9. That's what you get for jacking around with voting machines.

What goes around comes around!

[santamargarita]

12. I hope the Bastards go out of business!

These criminals are co-conspirators!

[seafan]

14. Conveniently, Diebold just renamed its elections division Premier Election Solutions.

20 percent of election printouts were unreadable, November 30, 2007

[Faygo Kid]

15. They did their "duty" in 2000. Now they are discarded by Bush/Cheney. No honor among thieves.

I really don't think Bush relied on Diebold in 2004 - those votes were stolen manually. But, Diebold cooperated in the 2000 theft, and probably 2002, as well. A lot of money has changed hands. The top guys will walk fabulously wealthy, the lower level employees will burn.

Maybe one of them can spill the beans, but I doubt it. They won't have enough actual knowledge to connect the dots.

[mother earth]

17. Seems to be an epidemic, no surprise.

:eyes:

Does MSM report on ANYTHING of significance? Thank God for BradBlog!

[AnnieBW]

19. Karma's a BITCH

ain't it?

[vanboggie]

20. That's a beautiful graphic

Now may the rest of the vote manipulators follow suit.

[maseman]

21. One thing many of you forget

Maybe the CEO is a crook and an asshole...but there are thousands of regular people who work there who are going to get shit on. How do I know? I live about 2 miles from Diebold and know about 3 people who work there. One is an assistant to a sales guy, one is a field worker who works on ATM machines and one is an HVAC guywho works on their buildings. I think what Diebold did with screwing with elections equipment is awful but the real downside will be all the innocent people who work there will get screwed.

[BradBlog]

28. The one BIGGEST thing I think that YOU'VE forgotten

You said:

"I think what Diebold did with screwing with elections equipment is awful but the real downside will be all the innocent people who work there will get screwed."

No, the real downside is all the MILLIONS of people who have already gotten screwed, and many of them, far far worse than simply losing their jobs...

Brad

[maseman]

33. No doubt Brad

But the hundreds of people who work there will be losing their jobs as a direct result of their corrupt CEO. Not an easy thing my friend.

[rasputin1952]

29. I sympathize with those who get caught up in the maelstrom,

through no fault of their own. it is always the foot-soldiers that get the worst of the deal when the brass are corrupt.

The whole thing about this is, that the guys/gals at the top didn't/don't give a damn about the people who really do the work that keeps things moving. Rare indeed is the company that gets management from within its ranks. Diebold is no different than any other giant company, the managers did their master's bidding, and like everything else that gets even close to bush, it turns into a steaming pile of crap. I can almost guarantee they thought they would never get investigated, that is one of the major reasons they did what they did. thieves do what they do because they figure they won't get caught, they figure they are just too smart.

The workers will suffer, and perhaps some of them will realize that mega-corps are not the end all answer for the economy. Think Enron...the workers will arise to find out they have nothing, they will have been looted.

[Just-plain-Kathy]

22. Just to add...Diebolds ATM's suck. They take so long to turn out your money, ....

you feel as if you should walk away and ask for help.

[HughMoran]

23. Good

Glad to see it...

[ScooterFibby]

24. Thank God, the wheels...

... of American Justice are still turning.

[marmar]

25. Karma is a bitch.....

:nuke:

[balantz]

26. You know what would be real satisfying?

To take some baseball bats and obliterate those disgusting machines!

[GreenTea]

27. Bush's DoJ investigating any republican company is a joke.

Not one of the hundreds of Diebold machine manipulations has ever benefited anyone except republicans including Bush.

http://www.bradblog.com/

[bjobotts]

30. So glad the bradblog is here. Voter fraud to election fraud to machine manipulation to

the real truth about the new legislation on voting machines pro and con including the confusion over a real paper trail it's been the brad blog who has been on top of it. Here in Missouri he debunked the AG scandal over insisting it was just to bring prosecution of so called 'voter' fraud before an election...who was lying about ACORN volunteers and who wasn't,...like I said the bradblog has been there for all of us to make us aware. Hats off to 'em for all of it. Very much appreciated.

Diebold has got to go. Never let anyone privatize my vote. Keep private corporations out of the election process.

[wake.up.america]

31. Could not have happened to a nicer company.

[Cobalt-60]

32. It couldn't happen to a more deserving company

All I have to say to corporate person Diebold is:
Die M*ther F*cker!

[dipsydoodle]

34. Good

[704wipes]

35. Maybe they are burning it down on purpose?

bankrupt it, get all the business records and corrupt coding out to the 4 winds....
They did with it what they wanted to do.
The sting is over at this location.
Pull up stakes and leave town.

[femrap]

36. That's a nice Xmas present!

Thanks....you always know when a company is in big trouble...they change their name!

[formercia]

38. Junior destroys everything he touches

I hope the shareholders sue those rat-bastards for every penny they have or will ever have.

Midas in reverse.

[Froward69]

39. IT SOON MAY HAVE A RESURGANCE>>>>>

County clerks urge all-mail election
Plea caps week of controversy about machines
By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Saturday, December 22, 2007

County clerks told legislators Friday to draft legislation making 2008 an all mail-in election, even though the secretary of state is resisting the idea.

Four county clerks were at a legislative committee meeting and said that 70 percent of all county clerks want voters to cast their ballots by mail in the 2008 election, when voters will be choosing a new U.S. senator and president.

The plea capped a week of turmoil touched off when (Rethug)Secretary of State Mike Coffman decertified the electronic voting and vote-counting machines used by most of the counties in the state. The decision alarmed county clerks, who are wondering just exactly how they will be able to put on an election.

Clerks say they don't have the money to replace the equipment, and they doubt they have the time to train workers to use it if they did.

"We currently have no options to conduct an election as things stand right now," Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson bluntly told the Joint Budget Committee that met Friday to discuss the matter.

And, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel, a Mesa County commissioner said she would risk having results thrown out and a lawsuit by Coffman rather than replace the county's electronic voting machines.

"How does he (Coffman)(R) think people are to hold elections?" Commissioner Janet Rowland said during a meeting. "If (Coffman)(R) wants to sue us, he can sue us."

The integrity of the election, and voter confidence, are looming as major issues for the legislature, which opens its session Jan. 9.

Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said he would like to have something for Gov. Bill Ritter to sign by the end of January, so Colorado doesn't "end up the poster child like Florida was eight years ago."

Ritter said it would be a top priority, though he hadn't been fully briefed on the committee's meeting.

"Until everybody's had an opportunity to weigh in, we're not going to take any position on specific legislation," he said. "But it is clearly a difficult situation and one that needs fixing."

The clerks are pushing mail ballots as a stop-gap measure to keep the election on track.

But Coffman said he believes that an all mail-in election could result in votes being coerced: "It would be great that the person makes a decision on their own about how they cast their ballot. Do they want to cast in the privacy of a voting booth or do they want to cast it at a dining room table with their spouse looking over their shoulder?"

Stephanie O'Malley, county clerk and recorder for Denver, also had concerns about a mandatory all mail-in ballot.

O'Malley, who attended the committee hearing, said that state law requires clerks to classify voters inactive if they don't vote in a major election. O'Malley said that would mean as many as 150,000 registered voters may not receive a ballot next year unless a special request is made.

About 75 percent of Denver's machines passed muster.

Coffman's decision was the result of a court-ordered review begun last year of electronic voting systems used in Colorado.

The decertified machines, including scanning devices for counting paper ballots, are made by three companies - Election Systems & Software, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems. Coffman(R) conditionally approved all equipment made by Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold.

Coffman said that some of the fixes for existing machines in the state could be accomplished in 45 days. An example he gave was a simple software patch on faulty machines.

He is asking the legislature to modify state law to streamline the approval process, which he says is overly bureaucratic.

"Let me say my goal is to get these vendors across the finish line but not compromise accuracy and security in doing so," he said.

Staff writer Chris Barge contributed to this report.



Mike Collins (D)
Mike Collins for Congress
www.MikeCollinsForCongress.com
www.ranger25.com

[Peace Patriot]

43. ES&S is as bad as Diebold, maybe worse. There is no question in my mind that

together they stole the 2004 election (Ohio was EXTRA insurance). That's what the $3.9 billion election theft machine boondoggle ("Help America Vote Act") was FOR. Why would they spend all that money, that could've been used to kill Iraqis, if it wasn't useful to them?

And ain't it cute that some of the taxpayer money that poured through the fingers of both Republican and Democratic legislators into Diebold/ES&S's pockets got turned right around into the Bush/Cheney campaign.

Unfriggingbelievable situation.

ES&S is a spinoff of Diebold (similar computer architecture), whose major investor and initial funder is far rightwing billionaire Howard Ahmanson, who also gave one million dollars to the extremist 'christian' Chalcedon Foundation, which touts the death penalty for homosexuals (among other things). The two corps also have an incestuous relationship--they were run by two brothers, Bob and Tod Urosevich.

It was ES&S that argued in FL-13 that their "right" to profit from our elections with 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY vote counting code TRUMPS the right of voters to know how their votes were counted, even in an obviously stolen election like FL-13 (18,000 votes for Congress 'disappeared' by ES&S machines in Democratic precincts, in an election 'won' by the Rethug by only 300 or so votes). And the Jeb judge agreed with them!

But the key to everything is--tragically--this so-called Democratic Congress' INACTION on FL-13. They just let it go by. Congress has the power to correct a situation like that. They did nothing. NOTHING! **NOTHING!!!** Just like they have done NOTHING all along--nothing to warn voters, nothing to stop this nutso fascist coup. Christopher Dodd--that snake-in-the-grass now spouting 'leftist' views--was the CHIEF DEMOCRATIC architect of 'TRADE SECRET' code vote counting, with the code owned and controlled by rightwing Bushite corporations.

They're all frigging IN on it! I swear to God!

Our Democratic leaders, if confronted, say, oh, if we just get rid of touchscreens (no paper trail), everything's fine. Touchscreens are like torture. If we just get rid of torture, we'll be a lawful country again. Touchscreens, like torture, is the over-the-cliff FASCIST assertion, so that we will BE HAPPY with optiscans which are ALSO RUN ON 'TRADE SECRET,' PROPRIETARY programming code, as are the central tabulators. It is only SLIGHTLY more difficult to steal elections with optiscans and a lousy, stinking 1% audit. Optiscans are the Corporate (Dem/Rethug) FALLBACK position, for continuing to steal our elections to keep the war booty going.

They stole 2004 for that purpose. They got rid of our good Sec of State Kevin Shelley in Calif (who had sued Diebold in May '04) for that purpose. They stole 2006 (at least 25 House seats) for that purpose. It's all about the WAR BOOTY and CORPORATE RULE.

And like torture vs. Fatherland 'Security' & endless war, and like touchscreens vs. optiscans, ES&S is the FALLBACK position for high profile Diebold's demise. They can just 'retire' Wally O'Dell, and suck resources out of Diebold, and infuse them into ES&S. ES&S is just as bad, if not worse--as to rightwing ties--and is probably more dangerous because it is less well known.

And there is a third lurker--Sequoia. (See Dan Rather's "The Trouble With Touchscreens," www.HD.net, for their role in FLORIDA '00! They fucked up the punchcard ballots to create chaos.) Rethug former CA Sec of State Bill Jones, and his chief aide Alfie Charles, who dispensed the e-voting billions in CA, went right to work peddling Sequoia voting machines, after leaving office (--the most egregious case of "revolving door" employment in the election theft industry).

Diebold will fold up its tent and creep away in the night. ES&S and Sequoia will pick up the slack.

This is the problem that history and fate have presented to us to solve. We, the inheritors of the American Revolution, and the Declaration of Independence, and the beneficiaries of every human rights activist in our history, who fought for labor protections, women's right to vote, civil rights for black citizens, and every other right and protection we have, now must fight for the RIGHT OF EVERYONE TO TRANSPARENT VOTE COUNTING. This is the most fundamental assault on our democracy that has ever been mounted. Without transparent vote counting, we DON'T HAVE a democracy. With it, however, we can start changing and reforming this country, very fast. It's not the only problem in our election system, but it is the one that utterly blockades change. And we must solve it. We must!