"FIDLAR FIRED? DUPAGE WATCHDOG GROUP SAYS “NO!”
"GLEN ELLYN, Oct. 12, 2006 -- Recent public remarks by DuPage County Election Commission Chairman
J.P. "Rick" Carney attempting to deflect criticism of cronyism in the selection of election vendors has led to
yet another discovery of favoritism, according to the DuPage Chapter of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project.
IBIP recently revealed that Carney had received $12,500 in campaign contributions from Fidlar Doubleday,
the "premier dealer" for Diebold Election Systems, Inc., prior to voting for the highly controversial touch
screen machines in December 2005. Fidlar had supplied voting machines, technical assistance and election
materials to the Commission for years. The new revelations concern Carney's remarks published by The
Daily Herald.
"Carney's response to this finding were published in a front page article in The Daily Herald on Oct. 5, 2006.
Robert Sanchez wrote, quoting Carney, “'All I know is they (Fidlar) no longer represent Diebold at the
election commission,' Carney said. 'That’s a fact.'” Carney explained that the $500,000 contract with Fidlar
for the printing of ballots had been given to another company.
"That company, however, turns out to be Liberty Systems LLC of Wheaton, IL, owned by William Barrett,
former vice president of sales of Fidlar Doubleday -- the person in charge of the department which sold the
Diebold TSx touch screen machines to DuPage County. According to County line-item expenditures, as of
Sept. 1, 2006, $200,000 had been paid to Barrett's company, headquartered in his Wheaton residence, by
the Commission for printing services. More payments are expected in connection with the November 7th
election. Barrett had personally contributed to Carney's campaigns between 2000 and 2002.
""Regardless of Mr. Carney's attempts to dilute and conceal his relationship with Fidlar, DuPage County is still
stuck with his vote on December 2005. We're still stuck with Diebold touch screens on election day," says
Jean Kaczmarek, co-chair of the Project's DuPage Chapter.
In the same news story, Carney was quoted as saying, “They no longer have any contracts with the election
commission at all." Members of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project are perplexed by Carney's statement,
given that the 31-page contract he signed with Fidlar in Dec. 2005 has provisions for maintenance and
licensing fees which will continue for 20 years. A phone call to Diebold Election Services' headquarters last
week brought assurances that Fidlar was Diebold’s only dealer for DuPage County. Futhermore, payments
to Fidlar appear in the Commission's line-item expenditures as recently as May 2006, including a $45,000.00 payment for the Diebold GEMS service agreement. Melisa Urda, co-chair, says, "How can we have trust in
our election officials when they claim a contract is no longer current, though current contracts and line items
say otherwise?
More . . .
http://ballot-integrity.net/docs/DuPage_Release_10-12-2006.pdf
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