Other states take action, move toward voter verified paper trail
INDIANAPOLIS – In April, a University of Michigan professor successfully hacked an AccuVote TSX, changing ballots cast in a mock election without voters knowing. Over the weekend, hackers at DEF CON, a security conference, took aim at the AccuVote TSX, and in one case, gained admin access to the machine. More than a half dozen Indiana counties deploy some version of the AccuVote TSX that relies on Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) touch screen technology, with no voter verified paper trail, according to the Indiana Election Division website. Are the voting machines some Indiana counties rely on vulnerable to hacking?
In Virginia, just two months before the 2017 gubernatorial election, the Election Commission unanimously voted to replace all touchscreen voting machines with voting systems that produced a paper trail.
From the Staunton News Leader Virginia scraps touch-screen voting machines as election for governor looms
“Concerned about potential hacking two months away from the state’s closely watched gubernatorial election, Virginia’s state Board of Elections voted Friday to replace any touchscreen voting machines before November’s elections for governor and two other statewide offices.
“The three-member board voted unanimously to decertify Direct Recording Electronic voting machines, acting partly out of concern that their security had been compromised at DefCon, an annual hack-a-thon held in July in Las Vegas. The machines do not produce a paper trail, which the department described as an important security feature.”
Less than 90 days away from a critical election, Indiana Democratic Party Chairman John Zody called on Secretary Connie Lawson to up her efforts to secure the vote in Indiana.
“Secretary Lawson is talking about replacing voting machines next year, after the election, why not now?” said Zody. “There’s no time like the present and other states have demonstrated the ability to get it done quickly. Protecting Hoosiers’ vote from manipulation is no time to warm a chair. It’s time for action.”
###
