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Roland99

(53,342 posts)
Thu Aug 8, 2019, 08:59 PM Aug 2019

Exclusive: Critical U.S. Election Systems Have Been Left Exposed Online Despite Official Denials

Exclusive: Critical U.S. Election Systems Have Been Left Exposed Online Despite Official Denials

The top voting machine company in the country insists that its election systems are never connected to the internet. But researchers found 35 of the systems have been connected to the internet for months and possibly years, including in some swing states.

https://www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/3kxzk9/exclusive-critical-us-election-systems-have-been-left-exposed-online-despite-official-denials

For years, U.S. election officials and voting machine vendors have insisted that critical election systems are never connected to the internet and therefore can’t be hacked.

But a group of election security experts have found what they believe to be nearly three dozen backend election systems in 10 states connected to the internet over the last year, including some in critical swing states. These include systems in nine Wisconsin counties, in four Michigan counties, and in seven Florida counties—all states that are perennial battlegrounds in presidential elections.

Some of the systems have been online for a year and possibly longer. Some of them disappeared from the internet after the researchers notified an information-sharing group for election officials last year. But at least 19 of the systems, including one in Florida’s Miami-Dade County, were still connected to the internet this week, the researchers told Motherboard.

The researchers and Motherboard have been able to verify that at least some of the systems in Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and Florida are in fact election systems. The rest are still unconfirmed, but the fact that some of them appeared to quickly drop offline after the researchers reported them suggests their findings are on the mark.

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Exclusive: Critical U.S. Election Systems Have Been Left Exposed Online Despite Official Denials (Original Post) Roland99 Aug 2019 OP
Well now just how in the fuck did THIS happen??!?! Leghorn21 Aug 2019 #1
No one could have foreseen this, surely. Roland99 Aug 2019 #2
On a related (positive) note... Roland99 Aug 2019 #3
Wish I had a hundred recommends to give. Important election systems issue. lostnfound Aug 2019 #4
Kick. dalton99a Aug 2019 #5
Would be interesting to see stats compiled on different vendors' systems... pecosbob Aug 2019 #6
I'm sure we'd get pushback from states with Repuke gov / state legislature Roland99 Aug 2019 #7
Wouldn't surprise me if there were intentionally placed roadblocks pecosbob Aug 2019 #8
And the GOP doesn't care RussBLib Aug 2019 #9
We won't be allowed to know the 2016 election was a scam. triron Aug 2019 #10
More evidence 2016 election was vulnerable? triron Aug 2019 #11
It will be like Ohio 2004 all over again DFW Aug 2019 #12
paper ballots, with people counting Hermit-The-Prog Aug 2019 #13

Roland99

(53,342 posts)
3. On a related (positive) note...
Thu Aug 8, 2019, 10:39 PM
Aug 2019



Eric Geller

@ericgeller
Today, we're launching a major project that I've been working on for the past five months.

It's a page that tracks every state and county using paperless voting machines, including whether they plan to upgrade and where they are in that process.https://www.politico.com/interactives/2019/election-security-americas-voting-machines/

pecosbob

(7,537 posts)
6. Would be interesting to see stats compiled on different vendors' systems...
Fri Aug 9, 2019, 12:29 AM
Aug 2019

Where in use, type of system, results vs exit polls, etc. I expect one could find interesting information there.

pecosbob

(7,537 posts)
8. Wouldn't surprise me if there were intentionally placed roadblocks
Fri Aug 9, 2019, 09:13 AM
Aug 2019

like we see with Ag-gag laws or prohibitions against tracking gun sales.

RussBLib

(9,006 posts)
9. And the GOP doesn't care
Fri Aug 9, 2019, 10:25 AM
Aug 2019

As long as they are the beneficiaries. Just one more piece of evidence that the GOP only cares about itself.

DFW

(54,357 posts)
12. It will be like Ohio 2004 all over again
Sat Aug 17, 2019, 12:48 AM
Aug 2019

In 2004, it came down to Ohio deciding if Bush had been re-"elected" or if it was President Kerry. The Republican Secretary of State of Ohio was also the chairman of the Bush campaign for Ohio. One maker of the electronic voting machines said he would "deliver Ohio for Bush." And then they went to court to get their machines declared as "private property," with the practical effect being that they (basically ESS and Diebold) would declare the "results" of the votes cast on their machines, but no one but they themselves were allowed to verify those results.

However, in one rural precinct, a small one with just 600 registered voters, the electronic voting machine's hard drive WAS examined before its owner/manufacturer could come collect it. It had given Bush 3000 votes in this precinct with 600 voters. So what happened? Well, Ohio DID shave 2400 votes from Bush's margin of "victory" in Ohio (thus handing him the election). They did NOT permit any of the other machines to be examined, claiming that ONLY the one machine examined had a "glitch." The others couldn't possibly, nooo.....

So, when several tech specialists (including my brother, who does high tech stuff for DARPA) say they can hack into the voting machines, I tend to believe them.

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,328 posts)
13. paper ballots, with people counting
Sat Aug 17, 2019, 01:16 AM
Aug 2019

A voter cannot verify his or her vote with electronics involved. The public cannot verify the count with electronics involved.

Paper allows a verifiable ballot and a verifiable election.

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