The Pinoy Tech Blog recently linked to an interesting entry on Threat Level, a Wired Blog that covers the technology side of “privacy, security, and crime”:

Who would have thought that Manila sweatshops would figure prominently in the manufacture of U.S. voting machines?

It turns out that Election Systems & Software, one of the top voting machine companies in the country, has its machines assembled in a Philippines sweatshop. The $3,000 computerized machines at the heart of America’s democratic system are assembled in a factory where workers earn between $2.15 and $2.50 a day, and the temperature sometimes soars above 90 degrees.

This development is made even more relevant, since ES&S machines are at the center of a 2006 Congressional election controversy. Apparently, the touch-screens on the voting machines were malfunctioning, calling into doubt the victory of Republican Vern Buchanan. He won over Democrat Christine Jennings by less than 400 votes, when over 18,000 ballots weren’t considered due to technical failures.

Call me cynical, but I’m quite surprised that minimal blame was assigned to the Philippine sweatshop regarding this issue. Yes, the Philippine factory was quite candid about its failures, admitting “rushed production of the ES&S machines to meet quotas,” and rejecting 30-40 percent of the screens that arrived from Bergquist [the touch-screen manufacturer based in Minnesota].” But at least Dan Rather and Kim Zetter realize that the ultimate responsibility with ES&S itself.

They’re on the right track. The best way to solve a problem is to look at what the head honchos are doing, instead of just focusing on those that carry out their orders.