Lobbying Hits IBM Contract
County Supervisor Burton Chace and Ernest Debs faced intense lobbying over a 9.5 million IBM contract for a countywide automated voting system. The Election Evaluation Committee urged approving IBM after reviewing eight bidders, while concerns about consolidation of 13 000 precincts into 7 000 were raised amid calls for delays and courtesy study by Congress members. The next five supervisors will revisit the vote on Sept 12.