But the clamor over the legality of the sale and the reliability of Diebold's voting machines won't die.
 
In recent weeks, several parties have called for a Department of Justice investigation into the $5 million transaction, saying that it gives the buyer, Election Systems & Software Inc., too much control over too many elections, including those in 86 of 88 Ohio counties.
 
And today, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group called the Velvet Revolution asked Diebold to repay more than $100 million in California taxpayer money spent on faulty voting machines and software.
 
Diebold, of Green, derives most of its revenue from its ATMs and bank security systems. Election systems accounted for only about 3 percent of sales. But today's accusations raised more questions about the voting systems Diebold developed and manufactured.
 
Velvet Revolution says that Diebold's voting machines fall short of federal guidelines by deleting ballots without notice, allowing audit log records to be deleted, and inserting incorrect time stamps on audit logs.
 
In Humboldt County, Calif., Diebold's software deleted 197 ballots last fall, said Emily Levy of Velvet Revolution. Diebold's sale to ES&S "does not get the company off the hook for committing fraud with our tax dollars," she said.