Voting Machines and Cybersecurity
Georgia Dominion voting system permits voters to fill out their ballots on touchscreens. Printers create a paper ballot the voter can check for accuracy. The ballot displays voters’ choices in human-readable text alongside a QR code that is read and counted by scanning machines. If the machines were to be modified so that a quick voter scan would display the results of the QR code, the system would be more foolproof.
Dominion Voting Machine
Recounts and audits in Georgia routinely confirmed the accuracy of Dominion vote counts. The lawyers defending the machines have won several court cases on the basis of merits.
“The facts marshaled by the court highlight a long story of incompetence, conflicting claims, and misinformation from the secretary about the Coffee County breach and its disturbing implications for easy access to virtually every component of the voting system,” said David Cross, an attorney for several Georgia voters who are plaintiffs in the case.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has identified weaknesses, but it found no evidence that weaknesses have ever been exploited in an election. The best protection in all voting systems is the use of observers from opposing interests who determine that the systems were no violated.
A Dominion report by the MITRE National Election Security Lab, an organization that assessed Halderman’s findings, said hacks are “operationally infeasible”. Hacks are easily defeated by routine election security procedures. All election security depends on observation of the system’s operations by members of the opposite parties running in the election.
“Reasonable, timely discussion and compromise in this case, coupled with prompt, informed legislative action, might certainly make a difference that benefits the parties and the public,” Federal Judge Totenberg wrote in a 135-page ruling. Totenberg said she won’t order Georgia to use hand-marked paper ballots, even if the plaintiffs prevail during the trial set to begin Jan. 9. She said it’s not within her power to mandate a new statewide voting system that would replace Dominion manufactured equipment.
Credit: Steve Schaefer
Totenberg proposed eliminating the QR codes currently used to count paper ballots, holding more election audits and implementing cybersecurity measures.