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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsHackers may have gained 'almost total control' of an election server in Georgia, report says
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/hackers-may-have-gained-e2-80-98almost-total-control-e2-80-99-of-an-election-server-in-georgia-report-says/ar-BBZ5W5g?fbclid=IwAR1iehh9pbkdpTYyOs_beGNm2PYkVUcmvzWZhx7ZPgpsrDLqKIvKbwHg3RoThe alleged attack on a Georgia election server was first discovered by Logan Lamb, an election security expert who suggested that hackers may have been able to significantly interfere with state voting data.
If the hackers successfully broke into the server, Mr Lamb said in his report that they likely obtained almost total control of the server, including abilities to modify files, delete data, and install malware.
Multiple activist groups have filed a lawsuit arguing that the vulnerabilities would have allowed hackers to manipulate the results of the states most recent elections.
More versions of this story continue to come out. In my view, the GOP/Russians/etc. have been hacking DREs, tabulators, and election results as far back as 2000.
mwooldri
(10,291 posts)Without it being blatantly obvious. Just sayin'...
TheBlackAdder
(28,076 posts).
A ballot box found weeks after Election Day has flipped a $569 million school bond vote in Midland, Texas
After much flip-flopping, a $569 million Midland ISD school bond election failed Friday by 26 votes now that county workers have taken into account ballots found in a missing box located weeks after Election Day.
The local election had drawn the attention of the Texas secretary of states office and some lawmakers due to the numerous twists and turns. On election night, Midland voters watching the polls initially believed the bond passed by 18 votes because of the results posted on Midland Countys election website. But a week after the posting, officials clarified to reporters that the election night tally didnt include mail-in votes. Once those numbers were taken into account, officials believed the bond failed by 25 votes, according to Deborah Land, elections administrator for the Midland County Elections Office.
We Choose Our Future, a specific-purpose political action committee in favor of the bond, quickly called for a recount. That recount, which wrapped up before the county found the missing box, flipped the results back again. With county officials believing that the bond had passed by 11 votes, the result of the manual recount was canvassed or made official Nov. 15, when it was signed by County Judge Terry Johnson.
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County officials found the missing box in early December. Taking into account those 836 votes, plus one stray ticket found separately from the box that had also been misplaced, the results flipped again. The new version of final results, which Land said should finally lay the issue to rest, was 11,800 votes in favor of the bond and 11,826 against. The result means that Midland ISD will not receive the authority to build two new high schools.
https://www.rawstory.com/2020/01/a-ballot-box-found-weeks-after-election-day-has-flipped-a-569-million-school-bond-vote-in-midland-texas/
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the_sly_pig
(740 posts)No difference really....
flying_wahini
(6,529 posts)hughee99
(16,113 posts)San Francisco Bay years ago.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,039 posts)That Texas story is an example of a failure to maintain chain of custody; the election officials blocked the public's ability to guard the ballots.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)easier for citizens to oversee
with the proper transparency everyone at the precinct should know whr and how many ab ballots there are
paper ballots are the answer!
DENVERPOPS
(8,679 posts)mwooldri
(10,291 posts)It's how it is done in the UK. Government employees (career, not political) are pulled to do the counting. Count is observed by the candidates and their representatives.
I admit it would be more complicated in America with many races going on at once compared to the one or two in the UK. Yes, a Scantron machine can be hacked but the paper backup makes it possible to dispute the count and do a hand count.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,039 posts)soldierant
(6,648 posts)There was ballot-stuffing for a long time in the US before mechanical and digital systems came in to use. I would not be surprised to learn that there was ballot-stuffing with potsherds and styluses.
But I certainly do agree that i like there to be a paper trail. My state has all-mail voting, which guarantees a paper trail.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)hand stuffing takes many peops or someone in power to change a few ballots with electronics 10s of thousands of ballots can shift with the click of a button
soldierant
(6,648 posts)And the electronics can change the count of scanned paper ballots, so those must be audited.
I don't know that I fear large changes as much as I fear highly strategic small changes actually.
questionseverything
(9,631 posts)but it is harder to "lose" a box full if they are counted election night in the precinct with the precinct watching
you are correct scanners can be fixed to give an inaccurate result too, which is why I want hand counted paper ballots and a tight ,transparent chain of custody
I don't want just "audited" at least the federal elections need to be hand counted.
Botany
(70,291 posts)Putin wasn't there just "to look around." Ever since "they" pushed through HAVA (help America vote Act)
in 2002 the exit polls have not matched the vote in a large # of cases and states.
Farmer-Rick
(10,072 posts)This rigging of our voting machines can only be overcome if we overwhelm the voting system by getting everyone out to vote.
aggiesal
(8,864 posts)Prior to computers,
ballots were paper ballots, and at the close of polls, the poll workers would count
the ballots for EACH, and I mean EACH, race within 3-4 hours.
The results were written down on a form and a copy was posted at the precinct
that same night so you could see the outcomes for your precinct and if there
were any issues.
All precincts did this and by usually 1 am, all the numbers from the ballots from
each precinct were tallied at the Registrar of Voters office so that the media
could post/announce the results by morning.
Using these computers, some races, take days to count!
Gore .vs. Bush is the one example that sticks out like a sore thumb.
One last note, I never use mail in ballots. Back in the early 2000's in San Diego
County, mail in ballots had a spoilage rate of around 17%, while spoilage at
the polls were around 2-3%.
In either case, there is no way to determine if your ballot was counted as you
voted, but mail-in's have a much lower chance of being counted at all.
First, all ballots should be on paper, no computer screen ballots.
Second, if we are going to use computers to count ballots, we should hand
count every ballot as well. We should go back to originally counting ballots
at all precincts and posting the results prior to counting via a computer
tabulator. If vote count is off by 1 vote, that precinct's votes should be
investigated to determine why there was a discrepancy.
This is most certainly true! I have counted ballots on election night and thrilled to sign the seals over the ballot boxes and posted the results on the door to the polling place. We were usually done by midnight or 1:00. People, it is our DUTY to vote and to count the ballots, just as it is our duty to serve on a jury. But we have privatized our elections, letting corporations control the machinery and outcomes, so that we can get the results a few hours earlier (and so we don't have to be bothered with the work of counting). Yes, it is disturbing how the exit polls no longer match up with the results. And I second your complaint about mail-in ballots. You never know what happens/can happen to the mail. (And the Republicans want to privatize our Post Office now, too!)
Farmer-Rick
(10,072 posts)I agree paper and pen his harder to rig then these silly ass computers that are always malfunctioning as planned.
Until we fix our voting system, or should I call it our cheating system, we need to overwhelm it with votes.
bdamomma
(63,658 posts)everyone needs to vote, and NOT sit this one out, unless they want to live in dictatorship.
usaf-vet
(6,094 posts)... to set in place a hackable election system to include remotely hackable electronic voting machines.
Paired with Citizen United, gerrymandering, voter suppression, voter ID and other dirty tricks designed to consistently steal elections by cheating.
They see the demographics are not moving in there favor and fear that they will lose their majority status sometime in the future. The projections range from 2040 to 2060.
You can certainly disagree with my belief that this is what we are seeing unfold piece by piece. I find it hard to imagine that these changes we have seen since 2000 are just coincidental random events that clearly allowed the presidential 2016 election to be hacked with the 2020 election already under attack.
Botany
(70,291 posts)The loss of the Senate seat by Max Cleland and the loss of the Governor's race were
"Diebold Specials" and after the election Diebold workers came in and changed the time
stamps on the voting data so they would agree w/the data.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)cilla4progress
(24,589 posts)drumpfs 2016 vote totals and EC win highly improbable: <1% in 3 states.
Is this the real story???!
rickyhall
(4,889 posts)The first election stolen.
wnylib
(21,146 posts)cell phones vs landlines, changing demographics, outdated methods, etc.
Some of those factors probably do affect pre-election polls, but what about post election polls? Are voters lying about whom they voted for? Or is the dicrepancy due to interference in counting votes?
Botany
(70,291 posts)and after flipping down the tabs and you voted by opening the curtain.
csziggy
(34,120 posts)With lever machines. Long story.
Leon County, Florida had had the same supervisor of elections for twenty or thirty years. In 1984 just minutes before the deadline for candidates to register she announced her retirement. The only candidate to register was her son, who had been working in her office for years. While some tried to run as write ins, with the lever system it was not easy and the son won. In the first major election after he took office, the machines were not properly set up. It was hard to tell which lever was for which candidate and many complained that they were not sure if they voted for their choice. The ensuing court case set the precedent in Florida that an election could not be re-done (which was important in 2000).
SUN-SENTINEL
May 29, 1987
TALLAHASSEE -- The Senate voted Thursday to reinstate Leon County Elections Supervisor Jan Pietrzyk, who was ousted by former Gov. Bob Graham over a botched primary election last year.
The 36-3 vote in favor of reinstatement was in direct opposition to a special master's recommendation that Pietrzyk be removed from office because he was responsible for widespread voting problems in Leon County Sept. 2, 1986.
Malfunctioning voting machines caused the entire election to be challenged in court. An undetermined number of people were unable to vote at all. Some people voted for one candidate, and the machine registered the vote for another, while other voters were given incorrect instructions by poll workers.
Senators said they felt it was a poor precedent to remove an elected official just because the official made errors in judgment. The voters put Pietrzyk in office, and they should be the ones to judge his performance, lawmakers said.
https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-1987-05-29-8702180627-story.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Sancho#Supervisor_of_Elections
The saga went on when it turned out that the opti-scan system that Sancho introduced to the county turned out to be hackable (see the HBO documentary Hacking America).
Sancho retired a couple of years ago, but he endorsed a man who had worked in his office for years and the elections since have been without problems.
fwvinson
(488 posts)In 2016 we had the doors locked, the lights out, guards out front and Russia got in. Now, the doors wide open, the lights are on and guards welcoming Russia back. How do you think this (2020 election) is going to work out?
triron
(21,916 posts)So tragic that U.S. can be so easily manipulated by Russia.
Botany
(70,291 posts)... are busy pushing the can, "Trump win re-election?" meme.
triron
(21,916 posts)Media beware! Your time may be coming soon.
CurtEastPoint
(18,552 posts)elections that are true.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Of course, that doesn't completely prevent "lost" ballot boxes and other old-fashioned shenanigans. But it makes recovery more likely.
calimary
(80,699 posts)wnylib
(21,146 posts)voters a printout of how they voted, like a receipt, to save for verification in dubious counting results?
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)And in real life, it's impossible to get everybody to bring in their receipts, thus sparing the potential embarrassment of discovering a stolen election.
That "receipt" option is proposed as a placebo so they won't have to actually make accountable voting systems.
wnylib
(21,146 posts)in some states when the difference is under a certain percent, would be the method of accountability, as it is now. I was just wondering if printed 'receipts' would allow people to come forward in cases of disputed recounts. The idea occurred to me only because last November, a poster here reported taking a cell phone photo of his/her ballot before sliding it into a scanner, due to mistrust of the system.
But I agree that a more accountable system is needed. As for 'receipts,' one flaw is that not everyone would save theirs. Another is that not everyone would want to reveal how they voted in a disputed outcome.
I'm not sure what an accountable system would be. In any system, there is the possibility of people interfering at some point, whether at the polls or with absentee ballots, or the design and/or programming of machinery. We can and should come up with the best system we can, but nothing is foolproof so long as there are people motivated to find ways around it.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)They can call it anything they like, but it's not a recount.
The only purpose of "receipts" is to give people a false sense of security.
56miSSie
(48 posts)Receipt would be checked by the voter to verify it is recorded correctly. It would then be deposited in a locked box to be retained by the election board. The locked box would be opened and "receipts" counted in the event of a recount. Voters would not take their receipt with them.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)ahlnord
(91 posts)Not only paper ballots, but hand counted. It takes a few hours longer, but it is the gold standard that would restore faith in the results. As an election judge I myself used to hand count ballots. It is hard to describe the patriotic feeling it gave me to complete the count and sign my name along with the other judges over the seals on the boxes. (Maybe similar to the civic satisfaction of completing jury duty? Something I have never done). Once I even got to accompany the boxes (together with a judge from the other party) in the back of a squad car with lights flashing down to the Secretary of State's office late on election night. Other "first world" countries - such as Canada and Germany - hand count, rather than relying on the unsafe electronic voting machinery. The count is completely do-able when conducted in each precinct on election night. Our precinct usually had around 1500-1700 votes cast, so you could compare the "burden" of counting to that of an election in a large high school. Completely transparent process with judges from both parties and election observers able to witness the counting. Everything verified backwards and forwards. Now we have tabulating machines that take the paper ballots in and spit out a ticker tape with the results. I do not trust that the tabulating machines are un-hackable. In fact, I am certain that they are hackable. So, paper ballots alone without hand-counting are still vulnerable to hacking.
Kurt V.
(5,624 posts)ecstatic
(32,567 posts)Hoyt
(54,770 posts)old seat in the House.
Also, glad they didn't prevent Obama from being elected, or Democrats reclaiming House in 2018.
GOTV and we WIN.
rainin
(3,010 posts)They know the election systems are hacked to guarantee victory. They know even the primaries can't be won without tRumps approval. They are kissing the ring to keep their jobs.
Baltimike
(4,126 posts)truth will out
triron
(21,916 posts)llmart
(15,501 posts)Ever since Gore v Bush, we've seen how shady our elections have become. That's the year I lost all faith in our system of voting and the impartiality of the Supreme Court.
ananda
(28,783 posts)Pace Greg Palast.
2naSalit
(86,061 posts)If not that election, surely 2004 after electronic voting machines became almost mandatory after the "hanging chads" of 2000. And even then the manufacturers had malicious intent. So I think there need to be demands, really loud demands, for paper ballots everywhere.
uponit7771
(90,225 posts)Horse with no Name
(33,956 posts)That pubs dont concede anyway when they lose.
aggiesal
(8,864 posts)uponit7771
(90,225 posts)... is not a system that should be trusted at all.
Republicans don't mind elected kings Americans do
bluestarone
(16,722 posts)After the election HE will be in charge to investigate everything! (it's a state thing BUT) They (DOJ) will decide. That's the way i see it!
sakabatou
(42,083 posts)uponit7771
(90,225 posts)... why anyone would want to deal with them as they are.
evertonfc
(1,713 posts)If it's going to come down to hacking, let's get the best hackers. I can't imagine all hackers and those willing to alter a Democratic system of voting are all Trump supporters or conservatives.
sarcasmo
(23,968 posts)the_sly_pig
(740 posts)Why is this story prominent now? Moscow Mitch and Lubyanka Lindsay wont do anything to protect our elections for a reason (or should I say treason).
Likely the die have been cast.
DonaldsRump
(7,715 posts)Does anyone really think the Russian hackers were just "snooping around" the many election agencies they hacked? '
Why exactly would they do that? Why would they snoop for a bit and then go away? None of that makes a bit of sense, unless these were really smart Russian kids who were hacking US election agencies for the fun of it (kinda' like Matthew Broderick in Wargames!)
There was clearly something more to this. Occam's Razor, IMHO, would say that the intrusions were done to change the votes. I appreciate there is allegedly "no evidence" of vote changes. I also appreciate the many, many times our federal and state governments have lied to us.
I'm going with Occam and my gut.
58Sunliner
(4,339 posts)hughee99
(16,113 posts)UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)triron
(21,916 posts)UniteFightBack
(8,231 posts)office.
triron
(21,916 posts)CrispyQ
(36,231 posts)I know that's not a solution to a secure election system, but WTF?
58Sunliner
(4,339 posts)diva77
(7,605 posts)systems here:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212888407
triron
(21,916 posts)burrowowl
(17,606 posts)questionseverything
(9,631 posts)in full public view
is the only way a citizen can trust the outcome...if we oversee it with our own eyes
PatrickforO
(14,516 posts)political office in GA, as well as its media, and it's citizens, would be committed to getting rid of the hacks, and perhaps those voting machines in favor of a less hack-able method of voting and tallying votes?
I mean, you would think that, right?
But let me guess who will be opposing the lawsuits - could it be the party of Trump?
And if this is the case, maybe Stacey Abrams actually IS the governor.
bdamomma
(63,658 posts)Never give up.
A backup paper ballot would be necessary and needed in this case.