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Jun 10, 2019

A big US maker of paperless voting systems now says paper is essential

Posted by in categories: cybercrime/malcode, government

Low tech sometimes is really good because when systems can be exploited then basically you see that no tech is sometimes best.


Election Systems & Software has championed electronic voting machines in the US. Now it has had a change of heart about the need for paper records of votes.

Cyber threats: Over half a million electronic machines are used in big US elections. Many produce paper copies of votes that can be used to audit electronic results, but some don’t. That’s a problem because security experts have shown that machines can be hacked.

The news: Tom Burt, Election Systems & Software’s chief executive, said in an op-ed in the political newspaper Roll Call that it will no longer sell paperless voting machines as the primary voting device in jurisdictions. Burt also called on Congress to make paper backups mandatory for all electronic votes cast, and to require all voting equipment suppliers to submit their machines to robust cybersecurity testing.

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