Posted on 11/09/2018 8:51:46 AM PST by Perseverando
KIM ZETTER, YOU RECENTLY SENT A TWEET THAT SAID, I'VE BEEN WRITING A ABOUT ELECTION SECURITY FOR A DECADE, BUT THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT STORY I'VE WRITTEN ABOUT IT TO DATE. THERE IS A LINK TO YOUR STORY. WHAT IS THE CRUX OF YOUR ARTICLE?
THE REASON WHERE WE ARE TODAY WITH INSECURE VOTING MACHINES AND THE THREAT FROM RUSSIAN HACKERS. THE REASON WE ARE WHERE WE ARE TODAY IS BECAUSE OF DECISIONS MADE IN 2002. AFTER THE FLORIDA PRESIDENTIAL DEBACLE, WHERE THE SUPREME COURT ESSENTIALLY DECIDED THE PRESIDENTIAL OUTCOME, LAWMAKERS IN CONGRESS AND THE SENATE WANTED TO GET RID OF PUNCH CARD MACHINES, THAT THEY SAW WHERE THE PROBLEM IN THAT ELECTION. SO THEY PASSED THE HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT, DESIGNED TO PUSH STATES INTO GETTING RID OF PUNCHCARD MACHINES. THEY GAVE STATES $3.9 BILLION TO UPGRADE ELECTION ADMINISTRATION PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES, BUT THE CATCH WAS THEY COULDN'T USE THAT MONEY FOR NEW PUNCHCARD MACHINES. IT PUSHED STATES INTO BUYING ELECTRONIC VOTING MACHINES. AND THE MAJORITY OF THE STATES AT THE TIME CHOSE TO MOVE TO PAPERLESS, WHAT WE CALL DIRECT RECORDING ELECTRONIC MACHINES. AND ALL THESE MACHINES, WHETHER THEY ARE PAPERLESS OR OPTICAL SCAN MACHINES THAT HAVE PAPER, HAVE SECURITY PROBLEMS.
WERE THEY AWARE IN 2002 OF CYBER SECURITY CONCERNS?
THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN. THEY HAD PEOPLE TESTIFIED THAT CURRENT VOTING MACHINES AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE WERE NOT SECURE. THEY WERE ALSO WARNED ABOUT PAPERLESS...
FIVE STATES STILL DON'T HAVE PAPER TRAILS?
THAT'S CORRECT. THEY PURCHASED THESE MACHINES FIVE YEARS AGO AND DON'T HAVE MONEY TO REPLACE THE MACHINES. MANY STATES AROUND 2004, 2006, RECOGNIZED THE...
ARE YOU MORE CONCERNED, GIVEN YOUR RESEARCH AND WRITING ABOUT THIS, ABOUT THE ACTUAL VOTING MACHINE ITSELF, OR BUY INFLUENCE BY, LET'S SAY, THE RUSSIANS?
I THINK THE RUSSIAN THREAT IS A RED HERRING. WE ARE TOO FOCUSED ON THAT, ALTHOUGH WE SHOULD BE THANKFUL FOR THAT BECAUSE IT ROT ATTENTION TO THIS PROBLEM...
YOU FURTHER REPORT IN THE CRISIS IN ELECTION SECURITY THAT WHAT YOU SEE ON THE SCREEN, WHAT IS RECORDED IN THE PAPER, AND WHAT IS PUNCHED IN AS A VOTE, CAN...
IF YOU HAVE WHAT WE CALL A VOTER GENERATED BALLAD, LIKE A BALLOT THAT GETS INSERTED INTO AN OPTICAL SCAN MACHINE, THAT VOTER IS ACTUALLY CREATING THAT BALLOT. WHATEVER...
YOU TALK ABOUT VOLUSIA COUNTY IN 2000, AND PROBLEMS THEY HAD THEIR PRIOR TO 2002. WHAT HAPPENED?
EVERYONE WAS FOCUSED ON THE PUNCHCARD MACHINES, BUT IN VOLUSIA COUNTY THERE WAS AN INCIDENT THAT DIDN'T GET A LOT OF ATTENTION, AND THE ATTENTION IT DID...
JOHN KERRY HAS EXPRESSED MISGIVINGS ABOUT 2004 VOTE IN OHIO?
OHIO WAS STILL LARGELY USING PUNCHCARD MACHINES, BUT THERE WERE COUNTIES THAT WERE ALREADY USING OPTICAL SCAN MACHINES AND PAPERLESS MACHINES. AND HE REVEALED...
OVER THE YEARS WE HAVE TALKED A LOT ABOUT DIEBOLD. DO THEY STILL EXIST?
DIEBOLD GOT OUT OF THE ELECTION BUSINESS AROUND 2009. THERE WERE FOUR COMPANIES AT THE TIME. THERE WAS SICK VOTING SYSTEM, AND A FOURTH WHEN -- THERE WAS SEQUOIA...
IS THERE A DANGER IN THAT, IN YOUR VIEW?
ES&S IS ESSENTIALLY, MAYBE CONTROLLING THE VOTE IS TOO STRONG A WORD, BUT THEY ARE WRITING THE SOFTWARE FOR MORE THAN 60% OF THE MACHINES COUNTING VOTES...
SNIP..........
The CSpan video is: HERE
I apoligize for the "all caps" of the transcribed text from the video, but I'm not going to retype it. I highly recommend the video and suggest if you are interested, try listening to it while surfing the web.
I thought the article was distributed via teletype...
All caps gives this message the special “oomph” that it requires.
STOP No teletype is not as annoying STOP This made my head hurt STOP
the reason where we are today with insecure voting machines and the threat from russian hackers. the reason we are where we are today is because of decisions made in 2002. after the florida presidential debacle, where the supreme court essentially decided the presidential outcome, lawmakers in congress and the senate wanted to get rid of punch card machines, that they saw where the problem in that election. so they passed the help america vote act, designed to push states into getting rid of punchcard machines. they gave states $3.9 billion to upgrade election administration processes and procedures, but the catch was they couldn't use that money for new punchcard machines. it pushed states into buying electronic voting machines. and the majority of the states at the time chose to move to paperless, what we call direct recording electronic machines. and all these machines, whether they are paperless or optical scan machines that have paper, have security problems.
were they aware in 2002 of cyber security concerns?
they should have been. they had people testified that current voting machines available for purchase were not secure. they were also warned about paperless...
five states still don't have paper trails?
that's correct. they purchased these machines five years ago and don't have money to replace the machines. many states around 2004, 2006, recognized the...
are you more concerned, given your research and writing about this, about the actual voting machine itself, or buy influence by, let's say, the russians?
i think the russian threat is a red herring. we are too focused on that, although we should be thankful for that because it rot attention to this problem...
you further report in the crisis in election security that what you see on the screen, what is recorded in the paper, and what is punched in as a vote, can...
if you have what we call a voter generated ballad, like a ballot that gets inserted into an optical scan machine, that voter is actually creating that ballot. whatever...
you talk about volusia county in 2000, and problems they had their prior to 2002. what happened?
everyone was focused on the punchcard machines, but in volusia county there was an incident that didn't get a lot of attention, and the attention it did...
john kerry has expressed misgivings about 2004 vote in ohio?
ohio was still largely using punchcard machines, but there were counties that were already using optical scan machines and paperless machines. and he revealed...
over the years we have talked a lot about diebold. do they still exist?
diebold got out of the election business around 2009. there were four companies at the time. there was sick voting system, and a fourth when -- there was sequoia...
is there a danger in that, in your view?
es&s is essentially, maybe controlling the vote is too strong a word, but they are writing the software for more than 60% of the machines counting votes...
snip..........
the cspan video is: here
My inner voice was yelling, kind of like how Garrett Morris did the SNL news for the hard of hearing.
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