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In the News

Radio & Webcasts

In the News

A microphone on a desk in the foreground with people seated in the background.

Testimony

Radio & Webcasts

In the News

Hands with their thumbs up.

Op-Eds

Radio & Webcasts

Radio & Webcasts

Sound board and sign that says "On Air".

Radio & Webcasts

Radio & Webcasts

Radio & Webcasts

Logo of New York Focus

Lobbyists Killed Bill to Protect NY Elections, NAACP assist

Sam Mellins | June 16, 2022

New York Focus


"...the state Board of Elections may soon approve certain voting machines that experts say are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. A bill that would have banned those machines...died in the state Assembly after the elections committee chair refused to let it come to a vote." 


This article features SMART Election’s partner project, SMART Legislation. 


Full article is available in our archive.

Full article

“State after state has moved from touch screen machines to hand-marked paper ballots,” said Lulu Friesdat, executive director of SMART Legislation... “New York is going backwards.”


Photo credit: Phoebe Sheehan/Times Union

Assembly Election Law Committee Chair Latrice Walker at a hearing in 2019
Logo of City and State New York

Security fears - NY’s use of electronic voting machines

Rebecca C. Lewis | May 23, 2022

City & State New York


"In a letter shared with City & State, election security experts and good government groups laid out the various reasons why lawmakers should ban the hybrid voting machines... 


SMART Elections...helped organize this letter, shared research with election officials about the risks associated with the hybrid machines." 


Full article is available in our archive.

Full article

“Time is running out,” the letter signed by some 70 election security and technology experts reads.


Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel/GETTY IMAGES

A touch-screen voting machine being used during the Democratic primary in Illinois.
The New York Times logo

Inside the Turmoil at Agency Running Ranked-Choice Voting

Brian M. Rosenthal, Dana Rubinstein, Andy Newman, Anne Barnard and Ed Shanahan | June 30, 2021

The New York Times


"The New York City Board of Elections, which has a history of mishaps, is now under intense fire for its error in releasing mayoral primary  results."


Full article is available in our archive.

Full article

“It’s just one fiasco after another, year after year,” said Lulu Friesdat ... “The fact that we haven’t made the effort to change that is shocking. ”


Photo credit: Dave Sanders/The New York Times

Poll workers at Queens Borough Hall count absentee ballots.
The Washington Post logo

Voting machines ... most are still terrible technology.

Cory Doctorow | The Washington Post | February 3, 2021

"...one voting machine company cynically attacks its honest critics."


Full article is available in our archive.

Full article

"SMART Elections is a collective of committed, individual activists — who translate academic research and relay it to state regulators..."


Photo credit: Brandon Camp/AP

A technician watches as a poll worker tries to use a voting machine.
Washington Monthly logo

Donald Trump’s Favorite Voting Machines

Art Levine | Washington Monthly | September 23, 2020

"Ballot-marking devices in key swing states could give him the perfect excuse to contest the election"

 

Full article is available in our archive. 

Full article

“There is no indication that talking about election security reduces voter participation” says Lulu Friesdat


Photo credit: Elijah Nouvelage/Stringer

Voters wait in line to vote.

Testimony

Lulu Friesdat Testifies About Brooklyn Pilot Project

NYS Senate Standing Committee on Elections Public Hearing: Voting Experiences and Issues

Lulu shared the experience of poll watchers with the Brooklyn Transparency Pilot project and how their efforts were met with hostility and obstruction by the Board of Elections.

Play

Op-Eds

States must pivot to safe early voting

Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake

Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake

Voters wearing masks stand in line waiting to vote.

Lulu Friesdat | The Hill | August 22, 2020


"Early voting may carry increased security risks, but election officials could alleviate some of these with publicly viewable video surveillance of the voting machines, as well as all ballots and equipment such as memory cards. Strict chain of custody procedures protect us all, and increase voter confidence at a time when voters have acknowledged  being worried about hacking." 


Full article is available in our archive.

Photo credit:  Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images      

Full article

Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake

Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake

Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake

Virginia Martin and Kirsten Gillibrand pose for picture at outdoor venue.

Lulu Friesdat | Imby | January 24, 2020


"Elections in the U.S. are not run by neutral administrators. They are run by the parties. They are not run for the benefit of voters or the impartial determination of who has the most votes. Each party fights tooth and nail to run the elections so that their candidates benefit."


Full article is available in our archive.

Full article

Hand-marked Paper Ballots: How this Tried-and-True Method Makes Us More Secure

Hand-marked Paper Ballots: How this Tried-and-True Method Makes Us More Secure

Hand-marked Paper Ballots: How this Tried-and-True Method Makes Us More Secure

Close up of a paper ballot.

Bennie J. Smith | The Commercial Appeal | November 21, 2019

"We’ve blindly trusted voting technology until it recently came under intense scrutiny. Many technologists, concerned citizens and others now want to replace voting machines with hand-marked paper ballots to record our votes. Combined with post-election audits, these low-tech methods provide evidence that voters’ choices were counted correctly when tabulated."


Full article is available in our archive.

Photo credit: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images 

Full Article

Voting machines pose a greater threat to our elections than foreign agents

Hand-marked Paper Ballots: How this Tried-and-True Method Makes Us More Secure

Hand-marked Paper Ballots: How this Tried-and-True Method Makes Us More Secure

Close up of a hand feeding a ballot into a ballot machine.

Lulu Friesdat | The Hill | October 2, 2019 


"...it’s important to examine how security flaws in our country’s voting equipment increase the vulnerability of our elections."  


Full article is available in our archive. 

Photo credit: Getty Images 

Full article

The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking

The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking

The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking

A young child waits alongside voters at several voting booths.

Lulu Friesdat | The Hill | August 19, 2019


"...the ability to access the core controls of these voting machines illustrates that malware could easily be planted on them. That malware can change vote totals, or prevent thousands of people from voting."


Full article is available in our archive. 

Photo credit: Getty Images

Full article

The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking

The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking

 

Radio and Webcasts

New York City board of elections tries to redo its ranked-choice voting tally

KCBS Radio | July 24, 2021


"The New York City board of elections tried to do-over its ranked-choice voting tally for a second time on Wednesday, after mistakenly including 135,000 "test" ballots in the count. The still incomplete tally shows first round leader Eric Adams remaining ahead, but 100,000 absentee ballots remain uncounted and could decide the race.  For more, KCBS Radio News Anchor Liz Saint John spoke with Lulu Friesdat, Executive Director of Smart Elections." 

Listen Now

Interview with Lulu Friesdat on Free Speech Radio 99.5 FM

WBAI 99.5 FM  |  August 26, 2020


On International Women's Day 2020, Lulu Friesdat talks with WBAI about the current situation with voter suppression in this country. "One of the things to really keep in mind when you talk about voter registration, voter participation is that in this country voting has never been something that was intended for everyone. It's always been a kind of an exclusive club."  

Listen Now

Unverifiable, Unsecure, Uncertified: L.A. County's New Touchscreen Vote System Still Failing

The BradCast | 8/31/2020


"LULU FRIESDAT, co-founder of SmartElections.us and ROBIN GIBSON, longtime Los Angeles Election Integrity advocate, discuss the certification of Los Angeles County's updated voting systems, things that could mitigate some of the worst dangers of the system ahead of the 2020 election, and the sole public comments hearing." 

Listen Now

NC Elections Board Ignores Voters, Approves Unverifiable Touchscreen Barcode Ballot System

The BradCast | 8/23/2019


Lulu tells Brad: "We have state after state after state...where you have a vast majority of citizens coming to these Board of Election meetings saying 'We want hand-marked paper ballots! We want voting systems that we can trust! We don't want touchscreen barcode systems!' And the election officials are putting in place those electronic touchscreen barcode systems that are the exact ones that people are protesting against."


Lulu also discusses the disturbing news out of DefCon's Voting Village and the launch of smartelections.us.  

Listen Now

Photo Credits: Newsstand photo. Hatice Yardim on Unsplash * "On Air" photo. Fringer Cat on Unsplash. 

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