Audit reveals Jeb Bush's technology office violated state purchasing laws when it hired Accenture to Build Felon Voter List
- Accenture's Lobbyist Raised more than $100,000 for Bush's Re-election
A scathing state audit slams Gov. Jeb Bush's
technology office for violating state purchasing laws when it handed
out more than $300 million worth of high-tech contracts last year,
including work to the same company the state hired to build a
controversial central voter database. Florida chose Accenture and
BearingPoint to take over various high-tech duties, including the
operation of the state's website. Both companies have high-powered
lobbyists with long-standing ties to Bush and the Republican Party of
Florida. Accenture has gotten paid nearly $2 million to build a
database meant to help weed out dead people and felons from the voting
rolls, but the accuracy of the list has come under fire in recent
weeks. Both Accenture and BearingPoint are represented in Tallahassee
by a who's who of high-profile Republican lobbyists. Accenture's list
of lobbyists include former top Bush aide Brian Yablonski, as well as
partners in the firm of Poole, McKinley & Blosser. Van Poole is a
former chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, and members of the
firm have been identified as being among those who have raised more
than $100,000 for the reelection campaign of President Bush. [more]