Unisys, Dell, MS Team up for Voting Systems
Jan. 11 -- In the wake of the election debacle in Florida, more technology companies are stepping up to the plate to offer their solutions as the modern cure-all to voting ills.
Today Unisys Corp. announced it’s teaming up with the No. 2 PC manufacturer Dell Computer Corp. and software behemoth Microsoft Corp. to build customized electronic voting systems. Blue Bell, Pa.-based Unisys will integrate the end-to-end systems, from voter registration to the voting process through to tabulation and reporting. Dell will build the hardware, Microsoft will tackle the software, and Unisys will bring it all together.
“Our intent here is to bring the best of breed solutions to market,” said Unisys spokesman Kevin Curry. “And obviously as time goes by and technology evolves, we will bring solutions to market to keep up with changes.”
The move is not a first for Unisys, which has dabbled in electronic voting systems in Brazil, Rome and Costa Rica, says Curry. Closer to home, Minnesota state caucuses registered their votes with the secretary of state using Unisys equipment in March 2000.
“With our integration capabilities and track record — we’ve done quite a bit of these implementations internationally,” says Curry, “we believe we have the right team to bring applications to market today and in the future.”
Following Some Trends
Today’s announcement comes about a month after CalTech and MIT announced its Voting Technology Initiative, a joint effort to find and create a uniform system for voting by assessing current problems and recommending technology solutions. In November, Compaq Computer Corp. and Cisco Systems announced investments in Voterhere.net, and other high-tech solutions are on the horizon, if not already in place.
Riverside County in Calif. pioneered a computerized voting system for ballot casting last November. Developed by Hayward, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems, the system fared well, according to Mischelle Townsend, the county’s registrar of voters, who is convinced this is a wave of the future grounded in a solid if short history.
