U.S. probes Chavez link to voting machine firm: NYTSure, if Diebold is run by a long-time Bush supporter and Pioneer who promised to deliver Ohio for Bush, that's OK...but damn, don't let some whacko leftie foreigner interfere with the voting!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government is probing whether a takeover last year of a leading U.S. voting machine maker by a software company with links to Venezuela gave President Hugo Chavez's leftist government control over its operations, the New York Times reported on Saturday.
The Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States, a multi-agency panel that approves or rejects foreign takeovers, is conducting a formal inquiry into Smartmatic Corp. and its subsidiary Sequoia Voting Systems, which is based in Oakland, Calif, the Times reported in its online edition.
Smartmatic and the Venezuelan government officials have strongly denied that Chavez -- a longtime foe of the Bush administration -- has any role in Smartmatic, the Times said.
I'm guessing that, when the Republicans lose heavily in the 17 states and District of Columbia elections that Sequoia machines oversee, there will be an outcry on the right that will make Bev Harris and Bradblog seem like sober, level-headed folks.