>>11642095
>kraken
fucking voting systems are like shell companies
Constantly changing hands to hide their fraud history
Election Systems and Software
ES&S (Election Systems and Software) is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, and directed by President and CEO Tom Burt.
In 1999, American Information Systems (AIS) purchased Business Records Corporation (BRC) to eventually become ES&S. AIS, formerly known as Data Mark, was founded by Bob and Todd Urosevich and primarily funded by H.F. Ahmanson Co, a holding company that belonged to the Council for National Policy (a right-winged organization). Bob Urosevich, who played the role of CEO for Diebold Election Systems for a short time, was responsible for creating the original software that both Diebold and his original company I-Mark Systems used. Prior to Urosevich's time with Diebold, he programmed software for ES&S. At one time, the Urosevich brothers controlled 80% of the U.S. votes due to both working in senior positions at two of the largest electronic election companies (Diebold and ES&S).
ES&S has faced controversial allegations since the company's beginnings; AIS's ties to H.F. Ahmanson Co. In 1984, William and Robert Ahmanson funded Data Mark (soon to be AIS) and bought a 68% stake in the company. A few years later, an investment group, McCarthy & Co., also acquired a share of the stake in the company. In 1992, investment banker Chuck Hagel, who was president of McCarthy & Co., became a chairman of AIS. Hagel soon stepped down as director of AIS and become involved in the government as state governor. However, McCarthy & Co. (partial owners of ES&S) funded Hagel's campaign and Hagel still own more than $1 million in stock in McCarthy & Co. The complicated ties in ownership and relationships caused suspicion of ES&S, sparking conversation alleging the company of Republican ties.
Along with the claims of Republican partisan ties, accuracy has posed issues for the company for years. In 2007, the market leader lost public trust when more than 18,000 ballots in the general election were not cast. In 2012, ES&S was accused of supplying untested and non-state certified software in the Ohio elections, which highlighted past mistakes of the company such as the 10% pre-election testing fail in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. In 2016, with the immense uproar of claims that George Soros (a Hilary Clinton supporter) had ties to Smartmatic and Dominion, ES&S's ownership was also in question.
The relationship ES&S had with Dominion (who bought Premier from ES&S) was what dragged the company into the conversation. The relationship with Dominion put a spotlight on ES&S because Premier (a subsidiary of Dominion) was once known as Diebold, which one of the Urosevich brothers once directed. Essentially, ES&S suffered from a loss of trust due to its historical ties with other voting machine companies.
Despite the company's controversial past, ES&S is one of the original companies dedicated to providing election technology in response to changing times. ES&S offers an array of services and provides multiple products, including touch-screen voting, scanners, tabulators, election management software, poll books, ballot printers, registration software, optical-scan tabulators, DRE's and absentee processors. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Justice forced ES&S to divest its newly owned Premier Voting System's assets to keep the company from a 70% market share in the U.S. voting systems industry. However, the company is still the market leader. The company continues its mission to provide products, support, and services that support the democratic institution. The company recently announced that, following a successful 12-year partnership with Childress County, Texas election officials, they will again proudly supply the county with elections management equipment.