Commissioners furious as voting-machine contractor fails to deliver

County election officials react to vendor's offer of second-hand equipment

Email | Print By Ken Whitehouse

05-15-2006 10:32 AM — The voting-machine manufacturer that won a five-year, $2.4 million equipment and maintenance contract with Metro Nashville just last month has told officials it will not be able to deliver the new machines it promised for the August elections. And members of the Davidson County Election Commission are not happy.

Omaha-based Election Systems & Software Inc. now wants to provide Metro with used machines for the August polls. The company says it will deliver the new ones later. David Friedlander of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration told NashvillePost.com that the reason for the delay was a manufacturing backlog and that every county in the state was getting new machines from various companies.

When Friedlander and Metro Purchasing Agent Jeff Gossage broke the news to the Commission in a meeting Friday, members erupted in anger at ES&S. "I think they lied to us, and I resent it," Commissioner Lynn Greer said. "They should have told us that they wouldn't be able to deliver."

"We have been mistreated and misled," Commission member Patricia Heim fumed. Suggesting the company ought to face a financial penalty, she said: "They better be prepared to belly up."

The Commission voted to ask an independent panel, which originally recommended the contract, to take another look at proposals by government contractors seeking to supply the county new voting machines.

One of ES&S's competitors, Diebold, has taken issue with the procurement process and questioned how bids were evaluated. In a letter to Friedlander, copied to all members of the Metro Council, Diebold's Director of Sales Barry Herron claims that what ES&S is providing Davidson County voters won't meet the needs of the community.

In the letter, Diebold also claims that had its RFP been examined more closely, Metro would have seen cost savings of over $300,000.

Friedlander took issue with the letter from Diebold, saying that the company was "playing politics" and that if it had a problem with the process it should have filed a challenge to the bid. Company officials have acknowledged to NashvillePost.com that while they continue to be troubled by the RFP process, they have not filed a formal complaint.