Hybrid & Universal-Use Voting Machines

• “Hybrid” or “all-in-one” voting machines combine a printer and a tabulator in one voting system. Most hybrid voting machines have what's called a shared paper path, meaning 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." 
• With "universal use" voting machines everyone votes on the same machine, usually a ballot-marking touchscreen interface. Most hybrids are designed to be universal-use machines. 

• LONG LINES: These machines can lead to and greatly exacerbate long lines. 

• 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. 

• Research indicates that "hybrid"/"universal-use" voting machines (also called “all-in-one” machines contribute to long lines to vote. Lines as long as 10-hours to vote have been documented where universal-use systems have been implemented. 

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

• EXPENSE: "Hybrid"/"universal-use" voting machines are some of the most expensive on the market. They have sold from between $8,000 to $14,000 dollars each. New stand-alone ballot-marking devices are on the market for around $4,000 each. 

• LAWSUITS: "Hybrid"/"universal-use" voting machines that would be banned by A1115C/S309A, are in litigation in both Georgia and Pennsylvania, where counties are experiencing extreme buyer’s remorse. Election Officials in Northampton County 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, a "hybrid"/"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 "hybrid"/"universal-use" voting machines are also touchscreen voting machines. When touch screens go out of calibration, they switch votes.  

• BARCODES: The ExpressVote XL counts votes with barcodes. “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 barcodes in counting votes, due to the high risk.

• Yes. Legislation has been proposed to ban "hybrid" voting machines with a shared paper path at the state and federal level. 

• In New York the legislation is A1115C / S309B.  The bill bans both "hybrid"  & "universal-use" voting machines.

• A1115C / S309A. does other very good things for our elections. The bill requires that all voters have the option  at each polling place to use a hand-marked paper ballot or a stand-alone ballot-marking device (one that prints a ballot, but does not count votes). Voters choose. (This is the setup that security experts recommend.) This will help minimize lines to vote.

• A1115C / S309A. will prevent counting votes with barcodes! Voters must know who they voted for.

• A1115C / S309A also requires ballots to be printed on durable paper. 

• Princeton Computer Science Professor and nationally recognized election security expert Andrew Appel supports A1115C/S309A. 

• Many other top election security experts support this legislation as well.

• At the federal level there are multiple proposed bills that would ban most hybrid voting machines, including the SAFE Act which passed the House of Representatives. 

• 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.

• A1115C / S309B is a top priority bill for the Let NY Vote Coalition.

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

• 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.."

• Security expert Andrew Appel has asked the League of Women Voters to take a position against "hybrid" voting machines.

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

• 7 NY Disability rights groups oppose the ExpressVote XL, a hybrid voting machine.

• 4 Disabiliy Rights groups wrote to the NY State Board of Elections opposing another hybrid 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. "

• If hacked, these voting machines "can add, delete, or change votes on individual ballots. 

• "No voting machine is immune from hacking." - Andrew Appel, Professor of Computer Science, Princeton University

• 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)

We are working to ban hybrid voting machines in New York and Nationally. 

You can:

• Attend weekly Fri 12pm meetups. The NY SMART Elections Working Group focuses on protecting NY voters and their votes.

There are currently four "hybrid" 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.”

• The NY State security lab NYSTEC said that if a "hybrid" 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." 

• Two "hybrid" voting machines are in use in New York state: The Dominion ICE and the Dominion ImageCast Precinct ballot-marking device
• Only one, the Dominion ICE, has the shared paper path design problem.
• Counties that have already purchased these systems will be able to use, maintain and replace their machines, so no taxpayer dollars will be wasted. 
• Some counties using these systems are leasing, and they can end their lease.
• A1115C/309B will ban the approval or purchase of any new hybrid voting machines, protecting New York voters and candidates.