Ohio Settles with Voting Machine Company

Ohio’s Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner has reached an agreement with a voting machine company, two years after she sued over machine malfunctions that led to dropped votes.

Brunner says the settlement with Premier Election Solutions Inc. could mean one-time payments and free licensing and equipment for more than 40 counties’ election boards.

Counties have 75 days to choose to take part in the agreement. Two counties — Cuyahoga and Montgomery — already had settled with the company.

Premier, now owned by Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software, had sued Cuyahoga for breach of contract after the Cleveland-seated county dropped Premier systems over malfunctions. Brunner filed a countersuit in 2008 after Premier acknowledged that its machines had dropped votes.