New Bowen Deputy Forced Schwarzenegger to Pay Millions

Brad Blog, the state's most persistent blogger-watchdog on the dangers of voting technology, reports that Secretary of State Debra Bowen has hired a fierce critic of "unverified" voting machines as her chief deputy in charge of ... voting technology. Lowell Finley, the lead attorney for VoterAction.org, will become her new deputy secretary of state.

"Finley and VoterAction (his group) have filed a number of landmark lawsuits in several states, including in California, over the past year or so, demanding an immediate halt to the use and purchase of Direct Recording Electronic (DRE/touch-screen) voting systems and decertification of many of those systems, as well as improved processes for certification of such systems.

"The Berkeley-based attorney Finley -- also one of the attorneys representing voter plaintiffs in the contested election in Florida's 13th congressional district in Sarasota --- had one of his most recent and notable successes last September, when a Colorado judge ordered a complete review of certification procedures for voting machines in the state. The court found the official placed in charge of testing and certification didn't have the qualifications necessary, and performed little or no testing."

The Oakland Tribune reported that Finley "has pulled out of lawsuits against elections officials in California, Florida, Ohio and other states in order to accept" the post.

Almost exactly three years ago, Finley represented Bill Camp of the Sacramento Labor Council. They successfully convinced a Superior Court judge that Schwarzenegger had illegally "loaned" his campaign $4.5 million. The ruling forced Schwarzenegger to pay the money back from his own pocket rather than through campaign contributions. The absurdly optimist governor called the ruling "fantastic," but Finley told the S.F. Chronicle (me, working there) at the time: "He is on some kind of medication that I would like to have a prescription for."

In photo, Bowen is sworn in Monday by Justice George Nicholson of the 3rd District Court, standing with her stepdaughter, Nora Miller Nechedom, left, and husband Mark Nechodom, right.

(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli / AP)