New York State BOE certifies controversial digital voting system
Tim Balk | Aug 02, 2023
New York Daily News
"The New York State Board of Elections on Wednesday approved the use of a controversial touchscreen election voting system, allowing municipalities the option to use the ExpressVote XL machine ...
Ahead of the vote, critics warned that the little-used system could contribute to long lines and carry security risks during election contests. It was one of four systems up for a vote before the state Elections Board on Wednesday, but by far the most contentious.
'The ExpressVote XL is not safe, and ES&S cannot be trusted in their claims that it is safe,' Lulu Friesdat, cofounder of the advocacy group SMART Elections, said in
Wednesday letter to the state Elections Board.
Douglas Kellner, one of four commissioners at the state Elections Board, said the board had received some 3,000 messages in opposition to the system’s potential
certification. Kellner, a Democrat, was the only commissioner to vote against certifying the system. 'I’m disappointed,' Kellner said by phone after the vote.
'It’s really now up to the county elections commissioners which of the four certified systems they will deploy.'”
Full article is also available in our archive.
New York BOE expected to vote on the use of highly controversial electronic voting machines
Rebecca C. Lewis & Shantel Destra | July 31, 2023
City & State New York
"Days before the Board of Elections votes on whether to authorize the use of new voting machines, good government groups, election advocates and security experts are urging commissioners not to approve the controversial touch screen machines. For years, watchdogs have argued that the machines are vulnerable to cyber attacks, leave no traditional paper trail of hand-marked ballots to perform post-election audits and are needlessly expensive with little proven benefit.
In a letter shared exclusively with City & State, over three dozen New York, national and out-of-state organizations from progressive advocates to good government groups, as well as nearly a dozen election security experts, signaled their opposition to the ExpressVoteXL voting machines."
Full article is also available in our archive.
New Yorkers could start voting on controversial touchscreen machines, as vote goes to board
Brigid Bergin | July 31, 2023
"The touchscreen machines face long-standing opposition from voting rights advocates, election security experts and even celebrity activists, who argue voters should be able to mark their own ballots, and object to the use of machine-readable barcodes to record a voter's selections."
"Friesdat pointed to other states that have used all-electronic voting systems in the past and found they didn’t work, which Reuters documented in a story about the evolving election machine landscape ahead of the 2022 midterms, using data from the nonpartisan nonprofit Verified Voting."
Full article is also available in our archive.
These Activists Distrust Voting Machines. Just Don’t Call Them Election Deniers.
Stuart A. Thompson | June 4, 2023
The New York Times
“Ms. Friesdat and good-government groups like Common Cause, a nationwide watchdog focused on government accountability, have campaigned against the machines for years, saying they are costly and could lengthen voter lines. They also warn that voters may not always consult the summary cards, causing mistakes to sneak through."
Full article is also available in our archive.
"For decades, Lulu Friesdat made election integrity her life’s work. Drawing support from activists and academics, she co-founded Smart Elections, a nonpartisan group that is opposed to some voting machines that Ms. Friesdat believes would increase wait times and cost a small fortune to purchase and maintain ..."
Photo credit above left and below: Cindy Schultz
Florence TEDx speaker advocates for election transparency
Seth Taylor | April 29, 2023
The Post and Courier
"Elections expert Lulu Friesdat called for changes to South Carolina’s election system at a TEDx event in Florence, hoping to boost voters’ confidence."
Full article is also available in our archive.
"...we want to ask people to lean into the idea of participation, lean into the idea of neutral, lean into the idea of, you as an individual can make a difference."
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 also available in our archive.
“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
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 also available in our archive.
“Time is running out,” the letter signed by some 70 election security and technology experts reads.
More FEATURED NEWS
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times
Brian M. Rosenthal, Dana Rubinstein, Andy Newman, Anne Barnard and Ed Shanahan | June 30, 2021
INSIDE THE TURMOIL AT AGENCY RUNNING RANKED-CHOICE VOTING
"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."
“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. ”
Full article is available in our archive.
Photo credit: Dave Sanders/The New York Times
Washington Post
The New York Times
The New York Times
Cory Doctorow | The Washington Post | February 3, 2021
VOTING MACHINES
... MOST ARE STILL TERRIBLE TECHNOLOGY
"...one voting machine company
cynically attacks its honest critics."
"SMART Elections is a collective of committed, individual activists — who translate academic research and relay it to state regulators..."
Full article is also available in our archive.
Photo credit: Brandon Camp/AP
Washington Monthly
The New York Times
Washington Monthly
Art Levine | Washington Monthly | September 23, 2020
DONALD TRUMP’S FAVORITE VOTING MACHINES
Ballot-marking devices in key swing states could give him the perfect excuse to contest the election
“There is no indication that talking about election security reduces voter participation,” says Lulu Friesdat, the president of Smart Elections, another election integrity group fighting BMDs. Friesdat cites a 2018 Harris poll showing that voters were, in fact, more likely to vote if they were worried about hacking.
Full article also available in our archive.
Photo credit: Elijah Nouvelage/Stringer
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.
States must pivot to safe early voting
Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake
Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake
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 also available in our archive.
Photo credit: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images
Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake
Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake
Columbia County Board of Supervisors Making a Mistake
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 also available in our archive.
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
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 also available in our archive.
Photo credit: JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
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
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 also available in our archive.
Photo credit: Getty Images
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
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 also available in our archive.
Photo credit: Getty Images
The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking
The malware election: Returning to paper ballots only way to prevent hacking