Shoup Voting Machine Corporation

Shoup Voting Machine Corporation

Company type	Private
Industry	Voting machines
Founded	1 January 1905 (1905-01-01) in New Jersey, United States
Founder	Samuel R. Shoup
Defunct	1 January 2015 (2015-01-01)
Fate	Closed (as Advanced Voting Solutions, Inc.)
Headquarters	Frisco , United States
Products	Voting machines

The Shoup Voting Machine Corporation was a U.S.-based producer of voting machines, established in New Jersey in 1905 by Samuel R. Shoup. Throughout its existence, the company experienced multiple relocations and rebrandings before ultimately closing under the name Advanced Voting Solutions, Inc. in Frisco, Texas in 2015.

History

The Automatic Voting Machine was invented by safemaker Jacob H. Meyers in 1888, who subsequently founded the Automatic Voting Machine Corporation (AVM) in 1898. Samuel R. Shoup later developed his own lever-operated voting machine and launched the Shoup Voting Machine Corporation in 1905. The business remained relatively small until the mid-1930s, when the introduction of the model 2.5 transformed it into a profitable venture. By 1928, AVM and Shoup had established a strong presence in the U.S. market, with machines used by approximately one out of every six voters. Shoup sold around 100,000 lever machines, with half still operational during the 2000 election. In the 1950s, the firm adopted the name R. F. Shoup Corporation.

In 1961, General Battery and Ceramic Corporation acquired Shoup Voting Machine Corporation. Four years later, the voting machine division was divested to form an S corporation. Shoup’s first overseas transaction occurred in 1968 with a sale to Trinidad. In 1969, aerospace company Macrodyne-Chatillon purchased Shoup for roughly $6 million worth of stock. Following unfavorable publicity and a federal tax lien amounting to $2.3 million, Macrodyne-Chatillon separated from Shoup in 1972.

Both AVM and Shoup machines utilized a tabular design; Shoup’s layout organized political parties into columns and offices into rows. Most units included foldable privacy booths for voter confidentiality. Between 1929 and 1975, Ransom F. Shoup implemented various enhancements to these devices.

Production of lever machines ended by 1982; however, many remained in service for several decades afterward. Rhode Island continued using Shoup machines from 1936 through the 1990s, while Louisiana operated them for over half a century starting in the 1940s. New York City relied on mechanical Shoup machines for nearly fifty years before initiating replacement efforts around 2010.

The company underwent further renaming to Shoup Voting Solutions, Inc. in 1992 and later became Advanced Voting Solutions, Inc. in 2001.

In 2015, Virginia revoked certification for all 3,000 Advanced Voting Solutions WINvote machines following revelations of security vulnerabilities, including a hardcoded Wi-Fi password set as "abcde". These outdated devices ran unpatched versions of Windows XP Embedded that were susceptible to critical cyberattacks.

Criminal cases

In July 1971, the United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell revealed indictments targeting Shoup Voting Machine Corp. of Philadelphia, along with its subsidiary Southern Municipal Sales, Inc., Shoup president Irving H. Myers, executive vice president Martin V. Schott, and additional individuals on charges including bribery, mail fraud, and conspiracy. One count accused Shoup executives of orchestrating a scheme to sell 200 machines to Hillsborough County, Florida, for $530,700 through bribery, then buying back 180 units as scrap for $5,400. Another count involved bribery related to the acquisition of 100 machines in Harris County, Texas. On March 1, 1972, Shoup entered a no-contest plea and was fined $45,000; meanwhile, a former salesman admitted guilt and received a sentence of 181 days.

In 1972, C. H. "Sammy" Downs, who previously served as a Louisiana state senator and public works director under Governor John McKeithen, stepped down following a federal bribery indictment connected to obtaining state contracts for Shoup. The company faced indictment as well. The trial held in 1973 concluded with a deadlocked jury.

Memorabilia

A Shoup voting booth appeared on the reality series Cajun Pawn Stars in the episode titled "Pawn 'n Chain," where pawnbroker Jimmy DeRamus acquired it for $800.