New York elections are at a dangerous crossroads. A new voting machine called the ExpressVote XL has been approved for use in New York state. Experts call it a "bad" voting machine that could radically change the way we vote. They say it will undermine security and confidence, while increasing wait times and costs.
LEARN MORE ABOUT WHY WE, AS WELL AS MANY GOOD GOVERNMENT, CIVIL RIGHTS GROPUS & ELECTION EXPERTS OPPOSE THE USE OF THE EXPRESSVOTE XL.
Security experts and good government groups oppose the use of the ExpressVote XL. They say that the ExpressVote XL has a flawed design that makes it dangerously insecure, and that it is also glitchy (1), and over-priced. Many of them strongly oppose its use. Voters with disabilities have often struggled to use it.
Emails obtained through public records requests reveal that in May of 2019, the New York State Board of Elections halted certification of the ExpressVote XL due to concerns that state regulations do not allow its use.
After the certification process was halted, the ES&S legal team threatened to sue the Board stating, “ES&S has authorized our firm to take any and all legal action necessary to preserve their rights...as your… actions have put ES&S in a position to lose… many business opportunities to sell the XL system to New York State customers.”
The New York State Board of Elections capitulated and is now poised to certify the ExpressVote XL.
Other documents obtained through public records request reveal that ES&S deceived the board about the company's past/present litigation and did not provide the New York State Board with all the documents it was legally required to provide.
ES&S threatened to sue SMART Elections, sending a cease & desist letter to us, for providing information to the public about these issues.
Andrew Appel, the Eugene Higgins Professor Computer Science at Princeton University has written a blog post explaining that "the folks at SMART Elections are aware of these scientific studies, and are basing their journalism and advocacy on good science."
HIs blog post clarifies that "The ExpressVote XL, if hacked, can add, delete, or change votes on individual ballots — and no voting machine is immune from hacking. That’s why optical-scan voting machines are the way to go, because they can’t change what’s printed on the ballot. And let me explain some more: The ExpressVote XL, if adopted, will deteriorate our security and our ability to have confidence in our elections, and indeed it is a bad voting machine. And expensive, too!"
We must continue to follow expert guidance in our elections and not succumb to vendor pressure to buy expensive systems that do not serve the public. It is imperative that we protect our right to accessible, accurate, private, and secure elections.
Below are related documents
1. “As many as 30% of Northampton County’s ExpressVote XL voting machines had flawed touch screens that prevented voters from selecting candidates listed on the edge of the ballot. At the same time, machines failed to electronically count any votes for some candidates in cross-filed races.” - The Morning call 12/19/19
Dangerous: Printer & Scanner Share a Path
Security experts say this allows the machine to change votes if hacked.
All-in One Voting Machines Are Not Secure
SMART Elections has produced this easy-to-read PDF that explains the major security concerns with "hybrid" or "All-In-One voting systems, like the Dominion ICE, the ExpressVote & the ExpressVote XL.
The document is based on the work of Professor Andrew Appel of Princeton and Professor Philip Stark at the University of California Berkeley.
The document was produced by Executive Director Lulu Friesdat & Former Columbia County Election Commissioner Virginia Martin, Ph.D.
Read the full paper here.
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