How long have we been talking about problems with voting machines now? Funny how when an election grows near that could cost the Republicans their control of Congress, the federal government now looks into them:

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.

In July, a Treasury Department spokeswoman disclosed that a Treasury-led panel had contacted Smartmatic, and a company representative said his firm was ”in discussions” with the panel. At the time, those discussions were informal. The government has now upgraded to a formal investigation, the two sources said.

Sequoia’s electronic voting machines operate in 17 states. In Florida, the machines are used in four counties: Palm Beach, Indian River, Pinellas and Hillsborough.

Miami-Dade and Broward use other technology.

Concerns about Smartmatic are keen on the eve of the Nov. 7 election, given fears that someone with unauthorized access to the electronic system could create electoral chaos. Some critics believe that if the Venezuelan government is involved, Smartmatic could be a ”Trojan horse” designed to advance Chavez’s anti-American agenda.

Now think about this for a minute. Our government is admitting that they may have very well put our democracy into the hands of another nation. A new Democrat controlled Congress must add these voting machines to their agenda, and it must be a very high priority. We are only two years away from the next Presidential election and if these machines need replaced then we must start on it right away. If we continue to ignore the problem then it will get worse.