All-In-One & Universal-Use Voting Machines

• “All-in-One” voting machines have an interface to mark your ballot, then they print, scan and count it.
• "Universal-Use means all voters have to use a touchscreen ATM-style system to cast their votes.
• Security & auditing experts don't recommend this.
• They say it will increase wait times & costs as it decreases security & confidence. 
• Experts say that marking a paper ballot with a pen is the most secure and accurate way to vote.
• Some states are using All-in-One or Universal-Use voting machines for all voters, in some or all jurisdictions. 
• Those states including Georgia, Louisiana, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and  S. Carolina.
• Verified Voting is a good source for information on voting machines by state
• An All-in-One voting machine was recently approved for use in New York. It's called the ExpressVote XL.
• The ExpressVote XL would eliminate the use of pen & paper ballots wherever it is used in New York. 
• Often voters with disabilities choose to vote with a touchscreen voting machine, and it's important for systems be available for those who choose to vote this way.
• It is possible to offer both pen & paper  - and touchscreen voting to voters, if the ballots are designed correctly. 
• Both options have been available in NY at all polling places for over ten years.

• We are currently working to prevent certain All-in-One and Universal Use voting machines from being purchased for use in New York.
• There are other approved voting machines that do not have these issues.
• Please join the Friday 12pm Meetings to learn more.

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• LONG LINES: Research indicates that Universal Use voting machines contribute to long lines to vote. Lines as long as 10-hours to vote have been documented where universal-use systems are used.

• NEGATIVE IMPACT ON COMMUNITIES OF COLOR: Research shows that when voters wait, voters of color wait longer, sometimes twice as long as other voters. So all-in-one and universal-use voting machines can negatively impact communities of color. 

• Disability rights groups report that,  “On average, using a ballot-marking device to mark a ballot can take between 15 and 45 minutes.” It is not hard to understand why long lines can develop, if every voter must use the ballot-marking interface, instead of voters, who are able to, marking their ballots by hand at the same time. 

• Watch this video of long lines for universal use voting machines and you will be horrified! 

• EXPENSE: All-in-One voting machines are some of the most expensive on the market. The ExpressVote XL is estimated to cost $10,000 each. New stand-alone ballot-marking devices are on the market for around $4,500 each. 

• LAWSUITS: All-in-One & Universal Use voting machines are in litigation in both Georgia and Pennsylvania, where counties are experiencing extreme buyer’s remorse. Election Officials in Northampton County, PA had a 100% vote of "No Confidence" but were unable to get out of their contract for the machines. 

• POOR PERFORMANCE: In Pennsylvania the ExpressVote XL, an All-in-One/Universal Use voting machine, arrived 30% out of calibration, and voters could not choose the correct candidates. The ExpressVote XL, also miscounted tens of thousands of votes and picked the wrong winner in a PA election. 

• TOUCHSCREENS: Many All-in-One & Universal Use voting machines are also touchscreen voting machines. When touch screens go out of calibration, they switch votes.  

• BARCODES: The ExpressVote XL, an All-in-One/Universal Use voting machine,  encodes the vote in a barcode and counts the barcode. “The barcode-based setup “makes a mockery of the notion that the ballot is ‘voter-verifiable,’” said Duncan Buell, a computer science professor at the University of South Carolina, because “what the voter verifies is not what is tallied.” Colorado, a leader in election security, has banned encoding votes in barcodes, due to the high risk.

• Voters with disabilities have a right to vote privately, independently and securely. Security Experts say that "all-in-one" voting machines do not provide that.

• 7 NY Disability rights groups opposed the ExpressVote XL, an All-in-One/Universal Use voting machine, when it applied for use in NY in 2021.

• 4 Disabiliy Rights groups wrote to the NY State Board of Elections opposing another All-In-One voting machine, the Dominion ICE.

• The Pennsylvania Department of State documented 27 pages of complaints from voters with disabilities trying to use the ExpressVote XL. "None of the participants were able to verify their paper ballot and every participant had at least one problem. "

• In Philadelphia where they use the ExpressVote XL, only 1/3 of polling locations are fully accessible. 

This means that the ballot travels along the same path for both printing and tabulating. This opens up opportunities for a ballot to be changed after it is cast. Security experts call this design "A disaster." 

There are currently four All-In-One voting systems on the market that have this security design flaw.

• The ExpressVote XL
• The Dominion Ice (ImageCast Evolution)
• The ExpressVote
• Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP) - In use in Los Angeles

The Dominion ICX does not have a shared paper path, but it has other security problems. It is a universal-use voting machine that security experts say has "multiple severe security flaws.”

• If hacked, these voting machines "can add, delete, or change votes on individual ballots. 
• Experts say that the attempt that ES&S made to solve this problem, does not solve it.

• The ballots are what we rely on to check that the machine has counted the votes correctly. If the paper ballot itself has been corrupted, a trustworthy hand-count of the paper ballots is not possible, and there is no way to know the true outcome of the election. 

• According to cybersecurity and voting system expert Kevin Skoglund, “It’s like giving a cast ballot to a person holding a pen.” (Listen to his public comments against the ExpressVote XL at 1:26:29)

• The NY State security lab NYSTEC said that if an All-In-One machine was hacked, “a forensic analysis would be needed on all ballots in question to determine if a human or machine made the mark. Such a process is unlikely to be trusted by the public.” 

• The lab said, "If the attack were to occur the impact would be very high." (p. 13)

• Yes. Legislation has been proposed to help solve these issues.

• In New York one bill is called VIVA NY (Voting Integrity and Verification Act of New York) A5934C (Cunningham) /S6169BC (Cleare).  

• VIVA NY passed the NY Senate last year, but must pass again this year. VIVA NY stalled in the NY Assembly. Voting machine vendors lobbied against it, according to sources involved in the process.

• Some of the lobbying may be illegal and we have filed a complaint with both the Attorney General and the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.

• VIVA NY requires that all voters have the option  at each polling place to use a hand-marked paper ballot or ballot-marking device. Voters choose. (This is the setup that security experts recommend.) This will help minimize lines to vote, and help prevent voter disenfranchisement. 

• VIVA NY will also keep costs down. All touchscreen voting is exponentially more expensive than pen and paper voting. Experts estimate each location must use over 5 times as many touchscreen machines, if everyone is going to vote on them. Touchscreen voting machines can cost 10,000 or more each. A pen is 10 cents. 

• VIVA NY will prevent counting votes with barcodes. Voters must know who they voted for.

• At the federal level there are multiple proposed bills that would solve these problems, including the SAFE Act which passed the House of Representatives. 

• VIVA NY is a top priority bill for the Let NY Vote Coalition.

• The Co-Chair of the New York State Board of Elections supports the legislation.

• Voting rights groups including the Center for Law & Social Justice support the bill.

• Most of the major good government groups in New York and many civil rights groups support the legislation. 

• Common Cause says the ExpressVote XL will “undermine the security of our elections.”

• Over 50 good government groups and experts signed a letter against the ExpressVote XL.

• Professor Rich DeMillo, Chair of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at Georgia Tech, calls the ExpressVoteXL,  "These all-in-one devices pose  extraordinary risks for the voters of New York and I urge you to reject their use in favor  of the secure hand-marked ballot systems currently used throughout the state.."