U.S. digs for vote-machine links to Hugo Chávez

In the debate about the reliability of electronic voting technology,
the South Florida parent company of one of the nation's leading
suppliers of touch-screen voting machines is drawing special scrutiny
from the U.S. government.

Federal officials are investigating whether Smartmatic, owner of
Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems, is secretly controlled by
Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, according to two people familiar with
the probe.