EDITORIAL: Break up ESandS

Mar 12, 2010 — The Miami Herald

Mar. 12, 2010 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- The acquisition of one company by another for the relatively small sum of $5 million doesn't usually set off alarms. But the September 2009 acquisition of Premier Diebold Solutions by Election Systems and Software means that one firm controls more than 70 percent of the voting machines used in the United States. No matter how well-intentioned this merger, it is not good for U.S. voters.

In Florida, voters use ES&S machines in 65 of 67 counties, meaning that around 92 percent of the state's 11.2 million ballots will be cast this year on ES&S equipment.

Monopolies and democracies do not make good bedfellows. Fortunately, this consolidation appears to be unraveling. The U.S. Justice Department should prevent such monopolistic control over voting resources in the future.

The merger denied Florida election supervisors leverage to pressure ES&S with the threat of competition. If the deal is allowed to stand, ES&S will control equipment, maintenance and support services and, in some counties, handle ballot design, too. Remember Palm Beach County's confusing butterfly ballots in the 2000 presidential election fiasco? Florida still smarts over that debacle.

After the merger, response out of Tallahassee was disappointingly muted, however. Florida's top election official, Secretary of State Kurt Browning, took the near-monopoly with sanguinity. But in December, Attorney General Bill McCollum investigated because the merger appeared to constitute anti-competitive behavior that could harm consumers.

Ultimately, Mr. McCollum commendably had Florida join the Justice Department and eight other attorneys general in an anti-trust lawsuit against ES&S.

It appears to be working. A proposed settlement, announced by the Justice Department this week, has ES&S divesting the hardware, software and other assets it acquired from Diebold.

It's not clear now who will buy the equipment. But this sale calls for Justice Department oversight. That may seem antithetical to our market economy, where competition rules. But, remember, the merger of ES&S and Diebold wiped out the salutary effects of market forces for 70 percent of American voters.

The message should be clear to interested buyers and Justice officials: Monopolistic control of voting equipment is persona non grata in the USA.

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