Election Security Watchdog Group Will Neither Cease nor Desist
Last week, election systems vendor ES&S sent us a “Cease and Desist” letter, threatening to sue AUDIT USA if we don’t remove the manuals for two of their voting systems from our website.
We have now replied officially to that threat via letter from our attorney, Chris Sautter.
Sautter wrote, “As you must know by reading the website, AUDIT USA is dedicated to bringing transparency and public oversight to U.S. elections in order to ensure that election results are accurate and to enhance the public’s trust in election outcomes. In these times of documented election interference, such transparency and public oversight are especially critical to the success of our democracy.”
Our attorney’s letter continues, “Therefore, we must respectfully decline your request to “cease and desist.” As an attorney engaged in copyright law, you undoubtedly are familiar with the “fair use” doctrine which protects the activities objected to so long as they are performed in the public interest. Clearly, the activities you object to are covered by the fair use doctrine.”
You can read the full text of our letter here:
And the original letter from ES&S here:
Pingback: Big equipment maker threatens critics as doubts mount about electronic voting | Philadelphia News
[…] litigious approach, claiming they sue in order to keep competitors honest. But the company has a history of legally threatening election-reform groups and governments choosing not to buy their […]