This is bad, even by his standards. Check this out
As a non-expert, I turned to the man who knows more about the conduct of elections than anyone else in the country, the director of the Houston-based Election Center, Doug Lewis.
You can see the SourceWatch wiki for this group here.
Here's a few details:
In August 2004, the Election Center held its annual conference for
election officials in Washington, DC. A number of events were
sponsored by e-voting machine manufacturers [12]:
* Wed Aug 25, 2004: Welcome Reception. Sponsored by Diebold
Election Systems.
* Thurs Aug 26, 2004: A Dinner Cruise on the Potomac and Monuments
by Night Tour. Co-sponsored by Sequoia Voting Systems.
* Fri Aug 27, 2004: Graduation Luncheon and Awards Ceremony.
Sponsored by Electronic Systems & Software Inc.
Here's more about the Election Center from the San Jose Mercury News:
In 2002, the Houston-based Election Center operated on a $462,000 budget. Executive Director Doug Lewis said Election Center's budget comes mostly from membership dues and training fees.
But he acknowledges accepting up to $10,000 a year in donations from voting-equipment manufacturers like Sequoia Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software.