Formerly called
|
Diebold Election Systems, Inc |
---|---|
Industry |
Electronic Voting hardware Consulting |
Fate | Acquired by Dominion Voting Systems |
Founded | January 22, 2002 Ohio, U.S. |
(as Diebold Election Systems)
Headquarters | North Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
Products | AccuVote-TSX, AccuVote-OS, AccuView Printer Module, Global Election Management System (GEMS), DIMS-NeT, ExpressPoll-2000, ExpressPoll-4000, VoteRemote Suite |
Website | Premier Election Solutions |
Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold Election Systems, Inc. (DESI), was a subsidiary of Diebold that makes and sells voting machines.
In 2009, it was sold to competitor ES&S. Another subsidiary selling electronic voting systems in Brazil is Diebold-Procomp, with minor market share in that nation. In 2010, Dominion Voting Systems purchased the primary assets of Premier, including all intellectual property, software, firmware and hardware for Premier’s current and legacy optical scan, central scan, and touch screen voting systems, and all versions of the GEMS election management system from ES&S.
At the time ES&S spun off the company due to monopoly charges its systems were in use in 1,400 jurisdictions in 33 states and serving nearly 28 million people.
Previously, DESI was run by Bob Urosevich, who worked in the election systems industry since 1976. In 1979, Mr. Urosevich founded American Information Systems. He served as the President of AIS, now known as Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S), from 1979 through 1992. Bob's brother, Todd Urosevich, is Vice President, Aftermarket Sales with ES&S, DESI's chief competitor. In 1995, Bob Urosevich started I-Mark Systems, whose product was a touch screen voting system utilizing a smart card and biometric encryption authorization technology. Global Election Systems, Inc. (GES) acquired I-Mark in 1997, and on July 31, 2000 Mr. Urosevich was promoted from Vice President of Sales and Marketing and New Business Development to President and Chief Operating Officer. On January 22, 2002, Diebold announced the acquisition of GES, then a manufacturer and supplier of electronic voting terminals and solutions. The total purchase price, in stock and cash, was $24.7 million. Global Election Systems subsequently changed its name to Diebold Election Systems, Inc.
Premier Election Solutions, Inc. is currently run by David Byrd.
In 2006, Diebold decided to remove its name from the front of the voting machines for strategic reasons. CEO Thomas Swidarski announced he would decide in the beginning of 2007 if Diebold stays in the election business. In August 2007 the company changed its name to "Premier Election Solutions" ("PES").