Unilect (also stylized as UniLect) is a punch card voting machine manufacturer [1] based in Dublin, California. [2] Its main product is the Patriot touchscreen voting machine, [2] which was introduced in 1992. [3]
Unilect was founded in 1989 by Jack Gerbel, [4] who previously founded Computer Election Systems, [5] and is the president as of 2006. [6] During the 2000s, its machines were sold in Michigan, North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Florida, [2] and Virginia. [3] The company had about 20 employees as of 2004. [3]
In 2003, six election vendors formed the Election Technology Council for documenting ethics and security best practices: the Information Technology Association of America, Diebold, Hart InterCivic, Election Systems & Software, Sequoia Voting Systems, and Unilect. [7]
During the 2004 United States elections, in Carteret County, North Carolina, 4,530 votes were irreversibly lost. Local election officials said that Unilect told them each voting machine had a limit of 10,500 votes, but the actual limit was 3,005 votes. Gerbel said that the machines gave a warning message that storage space was running out. Critics responded that the machines should have automatically stopped counting new ballots at this point. [8] The chair of Carteret County's election board said that election officials did not see a warning message. [9] The North Carolina agriculture commissioner election results had a margin lower than the number of lost votes, so it was not certified in time unlike the other races. [3] In December 2004, a new election was ordered by the North Carolina Board of Elections for North Carolina agriculture commissioner. [10] In July 2005, the North Carolina State Legislature voted to stop using Unilect and to mandate paper ballots for all electronic voting systems. [6]
Pennsylvania state officials decertified Unilect in April 2005 due to its machines freezing, not capturing screen touches, and under-counting votes during the 2004 election. [11] In April 2006, Unilect offered to buy back old Patriot machines for $5,000 from Mercer County, Pennsylvania, originally sold for about $900,000 in 2001. County Commissioner Olivia M. Lazor described this offer as "an insult". [12] In May 2006, the county sued Unilect to recover the cost, alleging breach of contract. [13]