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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.
“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 available in our archive.
“Time is running out,” the letter signed by some 70 election security and technology experts reads.
Photo credit: Jonathan Daniel/GETTY IMAGES
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.
“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
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.
"SMART Elections is a collective of committed, individual activists — who translate academic research and relay it to state regulators..."
Photo credit: Brandon Camp/AP
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.
“There is no indication that talking about election security reduces voter participation” says Lulu Friesdat
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 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 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 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 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 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
Nonpartisan Observation
It's time for nonpartisan observation in U.S. elections. Guests: Carter Center & the Alliance for Securing Democracy