New Bill Aims to Eliminate Paperless Voting Machines

Timothy B. Lee, writing for Ars Technica:

“With the 2018 elections just around the corner, Russia will be back to interfere again,” said co-sponsor Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

So a group of senators led by James Lankford (R-Okla.) wants to shore up the security of American voting systems ahead of the 2018 and 2020 elections. And the senators have focused on two major changes that have broad support from voting security experts.

The first objective is to get rid of paperless electronic voting machines. Computer scientists have been warning for more than a decade that these machines are vulnerable to hacking and can’t be meaningfully audited. States have begun moving away from paperless systems, but budget constraints have forced some to continue relying on insecure paperless equipment. The Secure Elections Act would give states grants specifically earmarked for replacing these systems with more secure systems that use voter-verified paper ballots.

I don’t know of a single voting or computer security expert who is in favor of paperless voting machines. The sooner we get rid of them, the better.

Update: Electronic voting machines in the U.S. are far less regulated and easier to rig than slot machines in Las Vegas.

★ Tuesday, 9 January 2018