Firm providing military absentee ballots for '04 sold to Saudis

Newsday ^ | 2/27/03 | Mark Harrington

[FastNBulbous]

Election.com Sold To Group Tied To Saudi Nationals

By Mark Harrington
Staff Writer
February 27, 2003

Election.com, a struggling Garden City start-up scheduled to provide online absentee ballots for U.S. military personnel in the 2004 federal election, has quietly sold controlling power to an investment group with ties to unnamed Saudi nationals, according to company correspondence.

In a letter sent to a select group of well-heeled Election.com investors Jan. 21, the online voting and voter registration company disclosed that the investment group Osan Ltd. paid $1.2 million to acquire 20 million preferred shares to control 51.6 percent of the voting power.

In a Newsday interview in October, Charles Smith, a representative of Osan who sits on Election.com's board, declined to name the Saudi Arabian investors with a stake in the company, other than to say they were "passive” and part of a larger group that included Americans and Europeans. Smith didn't return phone calls Wednesday.

A federal law enforcement official who follows election issues said he was surprised to hear about the ownership of Election.com, which is one of several contractors working on the online Federal Voting Assistance Program, primarily for overseas military personnel.

Concerns about the ownership stake were first raised following the September 2001 terrorist attacks. Smith at the time accused critics of unfairly focusing on the issue because the terrorists were Saudi.

Several shareholders of the company said they were surprised by the recent buyout and have asked for securities regulators to investigate.

[M. Thatcher]

I agree. Got any ideas? This is just beyond retardo.

[oceanview]

I emailed the link to congressman Peter King's office, he is from that area of Long Island where this firm is located.

[getgoing]

Have you seen this?

[Revel]

"Good Lord, the Saudis are going to own controlling interest in a company that provides absentee ballots to U.S. troops! Now,
how effed up is that?!"

Don't worry about it! After all we are getting electronic voting. What else matters?(Sarcasim)

[Revel]

Bump

[John Lenin]

outrageous bump

[montag813]

Good Lord, the Saudis are going to own controlling interest in a company that provides absentee ballots to U.S. troops! Now, how effed up is that?!

Yes, the (Saudi-enhanced) military results for 2004 will be most interesting indeed.

I predict: Hillary 95% Bush 5%

[Slip18]

Another outrageous bump.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Republic]

Good Lord, the Saudis are going to own controlling interest in a company that provides absentee ballots to U.S. troops! Now, how effed up is that?!

This needs to be looked into and stopped.

[AuntB]

This needs to be squashed like an ugly bug.

How's our precious Republic today???? Well, I hope!

[Republic]

I am well, AuntB. I just feel blessed. Thanks. And you know I'm right here. How's by you? What's the latest?

This article bothers me. There is something so wrong with any foreign company having a stake in American ballot procedures. I object. BIG TIME!

[AuntB]

20 years ago my sister was an accountant for some Italians who had purchased farmland near Fresno. If we had any idea how much of our "real estate" is owned by foreign countries....well we might not feel so blessed!! You be good, darlin'!