ES&S Completes Agreement to Sell Premier Election Solutions Intellectual Property and Other Assets

May 21, 2010 - PRLog -- Omaha, Neb., May 19, 2010 — Election Systems & Software, Inc. (ES&S) and Premier Election Solutions, Inc. (Premier) have announced that Dominion Voting Systems (DVS) has entered into an agreement to purchase certain intellectual property of Premier. ES&S acquired Premier last year from Diebold, Inc. Premier retained license rights to the intellectual property enabling it to continue to service customers using Premier voting equipment. As part of the transaction, DVS also acquired an irrevocable, perpetual license for the ES&S AutoMark® voting terminals, a similar license for the VoteRemote™ absentee vote-by-mail processing solution, and access rights to spare parts, supplies and other resources necessary to support and service these installed systems.

The purchase was approved by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), ES&S and the States of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maine, Maryland, New Mexico, Tennessee and Washington and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The sale resolves concerns raised by some, including the anti-trust division of the DOJ, about the competitive impact of the acquisition. As a result of this transaction, customers previously using Premier voting technology will be able to select the vendor they believe will best meet their future election needs.

“From the day ES&S acquired Premier, our focus has always been on meeting the election-related needs and services for all ES&S and Premier Customers,” said Aldo Tesi, President and CEO of ES&S. “And, we have done just that. Since our acquisition of Premier in September of last year, we have already supported more than 1,500 successful election events in jurisdictions that were formerly served by Premier. We also recognized that our acquisition of Premier generated some concerns and we have taken this important step today to address those concerns.” Tesi added.

Today’s sale means Premier will continue to be able to provide election services and support to all former Premier customers. “ES&S retains ownership of Premier which retains the rights to support currently installed Premier products,” said Tesi. “ES&S and PES have the resources and financial strength to ensure our ability to deliver for customers.”

And, the resolution of this matter also means that jurisdictions can move forward immediately in planning for future election events. “We are pleased to move beyond this issue so that all of us can focus on the important work of delivering high quality election events,” said Tesi. “This resolution allows us to do just that.”

Media Contact:
Ken Fields
(314) 982-0556 or (314) 640-2529
ken.fields@fleishman.com

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About Election Systems & Software:
ES&S is the industry leader in providing end-to-end integrated election solutions. Through the voting systems and software we develop and the election services we deliver, ES&S has become a trusted partner throughout the world.