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In reply to the discussion: It is entirely possible votes were tampered with!" [View all]Igel
(35,300 posts)Strictly speaking, "voting systems" is too ambiguous when it's well known that all the known hacks are "voter registration systems."
The ambiguity very quickly starts to be either clearly and intentionally ambiguous on purpose, or the writer's incorrigibly unaware of a fairly important distinction on a topic of professed expertise.
My district's grade software was hacked a number of years ago. Teachers were immediately concerned that their personnel files, from Social Security information to any reprimands were public information. Even when it was pointed out that the teachers themselves know that these are two entirely different systems because they have access to the gradebooks but do not have access to changing their own employee information some insisted on saying, "But they're both on computers!" These were not, mind you, the computer science teachers.
Voter registration systems were breached. If they changed voter registration data, there are several possibilities (since more than several systems were breached, odds are most of these happened): Some people had to file provisional ballots and they were okay; backups were used; the information had already been exported for use on election day (this is true in one case that was reported, perhaps more); nothing was changed because there was little point in it.
Now, if they did get access and didn't change anything, what was the point? Perhaps they copied the information. Perhaps they didn't know what was in the database until they got inside, poked around looking for the family jewels, and instead found they'd broken into the garden shed. Maybe it was recon, casing the place out so next election they'd have a plan on what to do.
It's really hard to argue from silence. Every bit as hard as arguing from "cui bono?" Okay, that's wrong, I tried to be civil and it didn't work. Here's another true with a greater nod to accuracy: It's absurdly, ridiculously easy to argue from silence, but it's completely pointless. It's impossible to argue in a principled, valid way from silence.