New Georgia voting equipment gets a passing grade from testing company

[MGKrebs]

Source: ajc

The certification test results, released Monday, indicated that touchscreens, election computers, ballot scanners and other machinery can handle the stresses of an election.

Read more: https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/tests-give-georgia-new-voting-equipment-passing-grade/Nvbn0VYDpq1qwvdoUcgJ4L/?utm_source=newspaper&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=9255924&ecmp=newspaper_email&

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But the picture in the article shows what appears to be a stack of ballots WITH QR CODES ON THEM.

This would be unacceptable.

[cp]

1. Now let's see it get a passing grade from a high-school hacker

[bearsfootball516]

2. I live in Elkhart Indiana and we recently got new voting machines. They're fantastic.

Your ballot prints off with a barcode that's unique to you. You insert that into a machine and select your choices using the touchscreen. When you're done, you press "finish" and it spits the ballot back out with all of your choices marked on it, so you can review it and make sure everything is correct.

Then you insert the ballot into the counting machine, it gives you a message that it's been successfully counted and it drops into a lockbox that can be used in case a hand recount is needed.

Best of all, none of the machines have an internet connection, so there's no way to get into any of them.

[MGKrebs]

4. But why is the barcode needed?

Optical scan is a very robust, proven, relatively simple, fast, and widely used technology. Why insert a code in between the actual vote and the counting of that vote? I don't get it. For what purpose?

[bearsfootball516]

7. My best guess is to prevent voter fraud.

Since each voter has their own unique bar code, if the poll worker forgets to cross your name off or something and you were to come back and try to vote again, the ballot counter would reject your ballot because it's already been counted.

Or, some deranged poll worker tries to print off a bunch of ballots on the same name and submit them all to stuff the ballot box. The bar code prevents that.

[MGKrebs]

15. Makes some sense, but, adding the potential for massive fraud or just error

via an additional layer of programming seems counterproductive.

[AtheistCrusader]

12. Well.... technically the barcode is literally optical scan...

Likely this is specifically to prevent ballot stuffing.

[MGKrebs]

5. I suppose if an audit is part of the process, it would be better.

If you can see the actual votes, then feed the ballot in again, and see how it is counted, that's pretty good. But the barcode adds an extra level of complexity and another vulnerable point.

[California_Republic]

3. " tested functionality not security "

[mpcamb]

14. That's horrifying. Good catch!

That phrase sounds like "the fix is on".

[FiveGoodMen]

6. My VW got a passing grade from the EPA

But when someone really tested, the emission problem emerged.

[Cryptoad]

8. To update Ole Uncle Joe Stalin's

Quote "its not who votes but who counts teh votes"

Its not who votes it who wrote the algorithms for the vote machines.

[MRDAWG]

9. This process will take much longer to vote because.................

After the touchscreen process voters will stop and read the paper ballot.

[ancianita]

10. For two years straight DEF CON rated Denver-based Dominion Voting Systems as THE WORST.

And who is Pro V & V? Some tester out of Huntsville, AL. Better ask Ron Wyden what he thinks of them, because tech people will tell him what they think of all this.

https://www.wyden.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/wyden-pro-vandv-election-cybersecurity-letter.pdf

Can't trust red states with voting. New? As in better? Pffft

[sandensea]

11. The very thing you see in other RW elected (but authoritarian) regimes: ballots w/ QR codes

Why, all you need is someone is with the right app on their phone, and in a position to casually pass the ballots near the phone (or vice versa), and they can read your ballot - as well as your personal info.

The same regimes, of course, have been pushing electronic voting and/or tabulation.

Dubya taught them well. That's what he meant by "spreading democracy," no doubt.

[ancianita]

13. +1

[El Mimbreno]

16. Paper and markers

That's what we have in New Mexico, then we slide it into the counting machine. If there's an extraneous mark on the ballot, it is immediately rejected, otherwise it goes into a sealed bin where it is available for recount if necessary. We had one recount in our county after the primary; the machine was 100% correct.