10 November 2007: Electronic voting manufacturer Sequoia Voting Systems was sold to private investors this week — one full year ahead of the 2008 presidential election. Sequoia Voting, which supplies technology to jurisdictions across 17 states and supplied the problematic punch card paper voting cards to Florida in the 2000 presidential election, reported the private sales deal was lead by its current executive team.

Jack Blaine, Sequoia Voting president and CEO, said, “I am very excited and hopeful about the tremendous possibilities and numerous opportunities that lay ahead for Sequoia given the company’s new structure and the completion of this sale process.”

The investors, led by Blaine and company CFO Peter McManemy, purchased Sequoia Voting from Smartmatic Corporation for an undisclosed sum.

Smartmatic announced its intention to sell in December 2006 following reports the company had ties to Venezuela’s government and was facing an investigation by CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.)

So the same company that sold Florida those infamous substandard punch cards probably resulting in the Presidential election going to Bush also sold Venezuela its state-of-the-art voting system?

Someone please tell me that the Bolivarian Revolution isn’t hanging by a digital chad…

Congrats on the new format…