Intellectual Property Law

A former software sales manager for Election Systems & Software, the largest voting machine company in the country, has been named county elections administrator for Fort Bend County in Texas.

According to a local news report, John Oldham had been regional sales manager, account manager and Illinois state manager for ES&S, which is based in Nebraska. More recently he had been an independent contractor for both ES&S and various election jurisdictions.

The county does not currently use ES&S machines. Instead it uses touch-screen machines made by Hart InterCivic, a Texas company.

Oldham is replacing the previous elections director, J.R. Perez, who abruptly resigned in March after clashing with county commissioners over the Hart InterCivic machines. According to the news report, Perez had wanted to get rid of the $4 million Hart machines in favor of machines that would produce a paper trail.

Oldham is not the only former voting machine employee who is now an election director. A former sales rep for Diebold Election Systems (now Premier Election Solutions) is now the registrar of voters in San Diego, California.

(Hat tip: John Gideon)

Photo: Daquella Manera

See also:

• Former Diebold Sales Rep Becomes Registrar of Voters in San Diego
• After Records Reveal E-Voting Glitches, Election Official Jokes She'll Stop Keeping Records
• Company Connected to GOP and Romney Delivers Diebold Machines to Maryland Polls
• Maryland Election Official Endorses Diebold Machines in Marketing Literature