Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney writes Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as a follow-up to her May letter to his predecessor, John Snow, with more concerns about the ownership of Smartmatic and related national security issues.

The New York Democrat’s driving concern is Smartmatic’s acquisition of Sequoia Voting Systems, and of how a foreign power could pose a threat to the integrity of American elections.

Maloney’s main points (emphasis added):

  • “… this transaction raises exactly the sort of foreign ownership issues that CFIUS is best positioned to examine for national security concerns.”
  • “… publicly reported information about Smartmatic’s ownership and about the vulnerability of electronic voting machines to tampering raises concerns.”
  • “I strongly urge CFIUS to independently verify the information provided to American officials and the public by Sequoia/Smartmatic, and to take all appropriate measures to safeguard national security.”
  • “It is undisputed that Smartmatic is foreign-owned and it has acquired Sequoia, one of the three major voting companies doing business in the U.S.”
  • “As we confront another election, Americans deserve to know that the Administration has made sure that any foreign ownership of voting machines poses national security threat.”
  • “… it appears that it is not possible to discern the true owners of Smartmatic from information available to the public.”
  • “According to the press, Smartmatic’s owners are hidden through a web of offshore private entities.”
  • “The opaque nature of Smartmatic’s ownership is particularly troubling since Smartmatic has been associated by the press with the Venezuelan government led by Hugo Chavez, which is openly hostile to the United States.”
  • “Smartmatic’s possible connection to the Venezuelan government poses a national security concern in the context of its acquisition of Sequoia because electronic voting machines are susceptible to tampering and insiders are in the best position to engage in such tampering.”
  • “… the reports that Sequoia brought Venezuelan nationals to the United States to work on the Chicago 2006 primary election raises questions about whether these officials are subject to direction from a foreign interest that might pose a threat to the integrity of the election.”
  • “… the use of Smartmatic software and machines developed in Venezuela, such as the HAAT software that was at issue in Chicago, raises questions as to whether this software is susceptible to manipulation by its unknown creators.”

1. Departament of the Treasury

Source:
1. https://www.scribd.com/Carolyn-B-Maloney-Letter-to-Henry-M-Paulson-Jr

Questions to Consider

1. What actions did U.S. authorities, including Congresswoman Maloney herself, take after the lawmaker raised her concerns about the integrity of U.S. elections and potential national security threats?

2. Does this risk of vulnerability of electronic voting machines used in U.S elections still exist today?

3. Could the U.S. election results be tampered with by 2020 or 2024?

4. Does the U.S. intelligence community, in its public statements, appear aware of the risk?

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