The Gazette ran a story on December 25 further summarizing the challenges posed by the implementation of a new voting system for the 2010 election. As described in an earlier post, the State Board of Elections voted 4 to 1 to certify the selection of a vendor, Election Systems & Software, for the new system. However, many concerns were raised during the meeting over the cost and timeframe. The Board will be sending a letter to the General Assembly and Board of Public Works members expressing their concerns. MACo is also considering action.

Further complicating the matter is a recent merger of two companies, Premier Election Systems and Election Systems & Software (ES&S),which gives ES&S approximately 70 percent share of the voting machine market. The Justice Department and 14 states are probing the acquisition to determine whether it violates antitrust statutes.