The former head of elections for Georgia is going to work for the company that supplied the state's $75 million electronic voting machine system.

Kathy Rogers, director of the secretary of state's elections division, resigned Nov. 30 and has accepted a job with Diebold Election Systems, manufacturer of Georgia's voting machines, according to several state officials. Rogers apparently will serve as a liaison between elections officials throughout the United States and Diebold.

State Election Board member Tex McIver said Friday he is troubled by the move and will meet to discuss Rogers' plans to work for Diebold. Rogers, appointed in 2002 by Secretary of State Cathy Cox, a Democrat, sparred often with Republican members of the election board.

Incoming Secretary of State Karen Handel, elected in November to fill Cox's vacant seat, said she, too, is concerned about Rogers' employment with Diebold.

"When I am in office, I'll be able to address it directly with Diebold," Handel said Friday. "For me, as secretary of state, she will not be the liaison in Georgia. That's a nonstarter for me. I think it is a conflict of interest when you have someone who ran a department basically lobbying for that particular vendor without a cooling-off period."

Electronic voting has come under fire in recent years by computer scientists and political activists who claim the machines can easily be rigged to manipulate election results. Ohio-based Diebold, in particular, took heat when its CEO at the time, Walden O'Dell, wrote a fund-raising letter in which he pledged to "deliver" Ohio's electoral votes for President Bush in the 2004 election. O'Dell has since left Diebold.

Rogers has been a staunch defender of Diebold's equipment, vehemently denying claims that the machines can be easily hacked. In numerous interviews with the Journal-Constitution and testimony before public officials, Rogers has expressed confidence in Diebold and said the elections process in Georgia has numerous checks and balances to detect and prevent electronic voting fraud.

Rogers did not return a message left on her cellphone Friday. David Bear, a spokesman for Diebold, could not confirm any details Friday about Rogers' employment with the company. Cox, through a spokesman, declined comment.

Handel said she was told about Rogers' job with Diebold by the employee who has replaced Rogers as head of elections. Members of the State Election Board were told the same.

Rogers, former head of elections in Savannah's Chatham County, was not involved in selecting Diebold as the state's voting machine vendor, said Cox spokesman Chris Riggall.

Although some former state officials are prohibited from doing business with the state for a period upon leaving, it was not immediately clear Friday if Rogers would be subject to such a prohibition. A spokesman for the state attorney general's office could not be reached for comment.

Handel, who will be sworn in on Jan. 8, said she plans to enact a policy to prohibit former secretary of state employees from going to work for vendors for a specified period of time.

Handel declined to say whether she would have kept Rogers in the current job and does not blame her for seeking gainful employment. Rogers was earning $90,233 in her state job.

"I don't begrudge that of anybody, going out and seeking employment," Handel said.

But Handel, currently serving as chairman of the Fulton County Commission, added that her "own set of ethical standards" would have kept her from working for a county contractor after leaving office, given her "inside knowledge of how things work within the county."

Georgia activists who oppose electronic voting also raised questions about Rogers' move to Diebold.

"It is another indication of how tight vendors and lobbyists are with public officials," said Garland Favorito, founder of VoterGa, a nonpartisan group working for changes in elections. "I can't say there is a conflict of interest because she should be free to pursue the best career option. But her unwavering testimony at the Legislature in favor of Diebold and voting that cannot be verified, audited or recounted defied common sense to the point that it amazed nearly all of us."

Diebold has peripheral connections to Handel's new staff. Handel recently appointed Rob Simms as deputy secretary of state, the No. 2 post in the agency. Simms previously worked as a partner for Atlanta lobbyist Massey & Bowers. One of the firm's principals, former Secretary of State Lewis Massey, is the lobbyist for Diebold in Georgia.

Handel said Simms did not work on the Diebold account and added, "If anything, it's going to make for a higher hurdle for Diebold because clearly we're going to take extra steps to ensure that there's never any ability to raise questions about these relationships."

Simms said Friday he has never done any work for Diebold.

State Election Board Vice Chairman Tex McIver said Friday he wants the board to discuss Rogers' new job when it meets in January.

"I certainly believe this is a serious issue that the SEB needs to look into," McIver said.