Voter group challenges Diebold voting machine sale

[babsbunny]

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20090929/D9B15NUG1.html


Sep 29, 3:11 PM (ET)

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) - A voter advocacy organization asked the U.S. Justice Department Tuesday to undo the sale by Diebold Inc. of its voting machine business, saying the transaction promotes a monopoly.

Voter Action, based in Washington, D.C., said in a letter to the department's antitrust division that the transaction is a grab for market share. The sale creates monopoly power in violation of federal antitrust laws, the group said.

Diebold said in early September it would sell its Allen, Texas-based subsidiary Premier Election Solutions Inc. to its bigger competitor, Election Systems & Software Inc. of Omaha, Neb., for $5 million plus payments representing 70 percent of collections of the unit's accounts receivable as of Aug. 31.