Category Archives: voting technology

If computer security experts discover flaws in voting machines, should they be publicly disclosed?

May 16, 2023, 2:53 pmvoting technologyDerek Muller

Over at Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy “Freedom to Tinker,” some thoughts on expert reports in the courts identifying security flaws in voting machines and why those reports should not remain under seal.

The other other Dominion case

May 3, 2023, 4:02 pmelection administration, voting technologyJustin Levitt

The AP reminds us that this case about a touchscreen ballot-marking system, first filed August 8, 2017 (challenging what were then paperless DREs), went to a summary judgment hearing on Tuesday.

“Public tirades, recall threats as Shasta County roils from decision to dump voting machines”

April 28, 2023, 7:23 amchicanery, voting technologyRick Hasen

LAT: Weeks after deciding to dump Dominion Voting Systems and become the largest government entity in the U.S. to hand-count its votes, Shasta County officials are now grappling with the complex logistics of actually carrying out that approach, accurately and… Continue reading

“The Jolt: Top Trump lawyer never saw proof of Dominion fraud claims”

April 26, 2023, 7:14 amchicanery, voting technologyRick Hasen

AJC: One of the chief architects of pro-Donald Trump election conspiracy theories conceded in a recording that she never saw evidence of voting machine fraud in Georgia — and that’s why she didn’t target election equipment maker Dominion in a… Continue reading

“Iran gained access to election results server in 2020, military reveals”

April 24, 2023, 4:24 pmchicanery, voting technologyRick Hasen

WaPo: The U.S. military discovered that an Iranian hacking group had penetrated a local government website that was to report 2020 election results and disrupted the attack before the votes were tallied, officials revealed Monday during a conference of… Continue reading

“Exclusive: Text messages reveal Trump operatives considered using breached voting data to decertify Georgia’s Senate runoff in 2021”

April 21, 2023, 10:36 amchicanery, election subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

CNN: In mid-January 2021, two men hired by former President Donald Trump’s legal team discussed over text message what to do with data obtained from a breached voting machine in a rural county in Georgia, including whether to use… Continue reading

“No consequences so far after Trump supporters copied Georgia election data”

April 18, 2023, 7:28 amchicanery, election subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

Mark Niesse for AJC: Caught by surveillance video, text messages and emails, overwhelming evidence shows that supporters of then-President Donald Trump copied Georgia’s statewide voting software from an election office in rural Coffee County in early 2021. Yet no… Continue reading

“New ballot-counting machines tested in spring voting were accurate, election officials say”

April 6, 2023, 4:12 pmelection administration, voting technologyJustin Levitt

From NHPR, and no surprise. But/and this is also the best kind of service journalism.

County boards and hand counts

April 3, 2023, 10:55 amelection administration, election subversion risk, voting technologyJustin Levitt

There’s been ample publicity about the conspiracy-fueled decision in Shasta County, CA to hand-count election results (more here), and a similar truncated effort in Cochise County, AZ. (Aside from the fact that tallies will take far… Continue reading

“Here’s how protected election system blueprints are making their way into far-right circles”

March 30, 2023, 11:25 amelection subversion risk, fraudulent fraud squad, voting technologyRick Hasen

LA Times: On the third day of the Conservative Political Action Conference earlier this month, two men delivered on experts’ biggest concerns about attempts to access election machines after the 2020 election. Using copies of election software — improperly… Continue reading

California: “Shasta supervisors pursue hand count election plan, details remain unclear”

March 29, 2023, 7:32 amchicanery, election administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

Jefferson Public Radio: After ditching Dominion Voting Systems in January, Shasta County still doesn’t have a clear way to conduct elections. The county’s Board of Supervisors voted on Tuesday to try hand counting every ballot. Shasta County supervisors moved… Continue reading

“Is anyone investigating Trump allies’ multi-state effort to access election systems?”

March 9, 2023, 9:21 amelection subversion risk, voting technologyRick Hasen

LAT: As news trickled out that former President Trump’s supporters had organized to access federally protected election machines and copied sensitive information and software, election expert Susan Greenhalgh waited for FBI or Justice Department leaders to announce an investigation. “It… Continue reading

Must-read from Andrew Appel: “Unrecoverable Election Screwup in Williamson County TX”

February 16, 2023, 5:14 pmelection administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

Andrew over at Freedom to Tinker, with the kind of problem that is not going to be caught by a typical post election audit: In the November 2020 election in Williamson County, Texas, flawed e-pollbook software resulted in voters inadvertently… Continue reading

“Security experts warn of foreign cyber threat to 2024 voting”

February 16, 2023, 3:30 pmchicanery, election administration, voting technologyRick Hasen

AP: Top state election and cybersecurity officials on Thursday warned about threats posed by Top state election and cybersecurity officials on Thursday warned about threats posed by Russia and other foreign adversaries ahead of the 2024 elections, noting that America’s… Continue reading