The CEO of Diebold Election Systems in 2004, where GEMS came from, was Walden O'Dell, who was also a fund-raiser for the Bush campaign at the time.[1] "I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year" wrote Mr. O'Dell.[2] He resigned in 2005 after being indicted for securities law violations.
That's probably when this feature went in.
[1] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php/Diebold_Election_System... [2] http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/09/business/machine-politics-...