Scott Walker continues to reduce elections commission staffers, despite Russian threat

[TexasTowelie]

The head of Wisconsin elections wants the Legislature to approve hiring three additional staff, with two focused on bolstering security following news that the state's voting systems were targeted by Russian hackers.

A 28 percent reduction in staff since 2015 has weakened the ability of elections workers to address voter safety and eroded fulfilling all other state and federal law requirements, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a memo released Friday.

“The agency for an extended period of time has been operating with less than optimal staffing,” Haas said in an interview. “We are falling behind with just our regular day-to-day responsibilities so we can be prepared for the 2018 election.”

But Republican Gov. Scott Walker is actually cutting the commission. He signed a state budget in September that cut six Elections Commission positions. The Legislature had asked that five positions be funded with federal money, but Walker vetoed them.

Read more: http://www.wisconsingazette.com/news/scott-walker-continues-to-reduce-elections-commission-staffers-despite-russian/article_0bdc4826-cc99-11e7-a122-9b4eb1eea0df.html

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. Paper Ballots, Wisconsin.........

Cost effective and hard to hack.

[pansypoo53219]

2. i use a #2 + paper in milw.

[dragonlady]

3. Paper ballots can't do it alone

The danger is that vote totals are printed onto a paper tape inside the voting machine and then sent to the central election commission of the jurisdiction. Do those totals reflect what the ballots show? Is there malicious software inside the machine that makes it pass the test before the election but later send doctored totals that favor one particular party?

Paper ballots counted at the polls by hand with observers would be great, but ballots often have many candidates for many offices, plus referenda. That would take a great deal of time to count. A better solution is open source software vetted by thousands of computer geeks at home before it is allowed to be used in the voting machines.