A New President is Appointed to Lead One of the Nation's Largest Voting Systems Companies as the Industry Prepares to Compete for $3.86 Billion Federal Election Reform Dollars.

Business Editors/Government Writers

OAKLAND, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2002

Sequoia Voting Systems, whose pioneering achievements in touch screen voting ignited national interest in electronic voting, is about to launch another revolution by becoming the first major company in the election business to be run by a woman.

Tracey Graham, director of global operations for De La Rue, Sequoia's parent company in the United Kingdom, will become president of the Oakland, Calif.-based voting equipment manufacturer March 1, replacing Peter Cosgrove, who has run the company for the past four years.

Graham, for her part, brings powerful credentials to the table. As director of operations for De La Rue's global services division, she has managed some of the company's most important business ventures in the United States, Asia and Latin America.

"Tracey is a high caliber executive with considerable operational experience in managing large scale government projects throughout the world," says Ian Much, De La Rue's chief executive. "This makes her the obvious choice to head Sequoia Voting Systems."

The appointment ends more than 200 years of uninterrupted male dominance in the American election business. "Sequoia is thrilled with the appointment of Ms. Graham and to be the first major election systems company to shatter the glass ceiling," said Kathryn Ferguson, Sequoia's vice president of corporate communications.

Indeed, while the majority of the nation's election administrators are women, the voting equipment industry is almost exclusively male-dominated, a characteristic that hasn't always sat well with the nation's election administrators, the majority of whom are progressive women who, in many instances, have broken through glass ceilings in their own communities.

"Graham's appointment is a powerful move that will reverberate across the election industry," Ferguson said. "We've been demonstrating our progressive thinking in the technology arena for years. But now we can show the world that we're progressive in the way we run our company, too."

Ferguson noted that Graham's strong customer focus, government relations and fresh perspective will allow her to connect with and respond to the nation's election administrators, as they undertake the task of implementing sweeping election reforms. "With Graham's appointment, we are effectively changing the rules of engagement in the election business," she said.

Although "De La Rue" is not a household name in the United States, they are the world's leading provider of tamperproof products and automated systems designed to ensure the highest levels of accuracy and security in our everyday transactions with businesses and government agencies, from ATM and electronic voting transactions to the production of national currencies, travelers checks and government identification documents.

In addition to printing 125 national currencies as well as the omnipresent American Express travelers checks, De La Rue invented the highly accurate and secure cash-counting mechanisms used in automated teller machines. More than 1,200 financial institutions in 60 counties currently use De La Rue's cash-counting mechanisms to secure their customers' transactions, much like Sequoia's touch screen voting machines accurately and securely count people's votes.

De La Rue is also one of the world's largest providers of tamperproof national identity documents, including passports and driver's licenses. Its passport and national identification programs are used by more than 50 countries, including Mexico, which uses its passport issuing system, and Chile, which issues its Government National ID's using De La Rue's system.

De La Rue's contract to produce tamperproof driver's licenses for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles is also one of the largest in North America and is considered to be among the most secure identification card programs in the world, providing a much needed template for other states that are seeking to enhance their driver's license document security.

Graham has personally overseen many of these projects, including the New York driver's license program and the secure national identification programs for Chile, Paraguay, and Mexico. She has also had her share of challenging election assignments that include developing countries such as Angola.

The announcement of Graham's appointment was made less than a month after Congress approved an election reform bill that will provide nearly $4 billion worth of funding to cities and counties needing to replace their punch card voting systems with touch screen voting technology.

Sequoia has the best track record of any touch screen vendor in the nation, with a roster of successful touch screen installations that includes Snohomish County, Washington, and Palm Beach, Pinellas, Hillsborough and Indian River counties in Florida. Sequoia is also largely responsible for the nation's current interest in touch screen voting, having pioneered the first major touch screen installation in Riverside County, California during the November 2000 presidential election, before election reform became a national priority.

Sequoia and De La Rue invite you to visit their respective websites at www.sequoiavote.com and www.delarue.com.