Urgent: New York Votes Under Attack Right Now
The New York legislative session is ending and there is one important bill with tremendous support that is stuck. All of the issues we are fighting for depend on our votes being counted correctly, yet the legislature has yet to pass the hybrid-ban bill A1115A (Paulin) /S309A (Myrie). It is needed to protect New York voters and candidates from "bad" voting machines called hybrids.
Security experts, (1) good government groups, (2) and many disability advocates (3) support this bill. We must get it to the floor and pass it this session!
WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?
Election security experts say hybrid voting machines pose "extraordinary risks for the voters of New York," (4) because if hacked, they "can add, delete, or change votes on individual ballots." (5)
After the major hacks of Solar Winds and the Colonial Pipeline, can anyone doubt that our election systems could be at risk?
In Northampton, Pennsylvania, a hybrid voting machine called the ExpressVote XL, miscounted tens of thousands of votes, Officials unanimously voted "no confidence" in the machine. They noted that, "a selection on the XL can be triggered by an infrared sensor without the voter actually touching the machine."
WHY IS THIS URGENT?
The New York legislature gave the Boards of Elections $20 Million to buy new voting equipment as part of the 2021 budget. Counties are already spending the new funding on the Dominion "ICE", a hybrid voting machine that security experts called a "disaster". (6) Meanwhile, a touchscreen hybrid voting machine that counts votes with barcodes is on the verge of being certified for use in the state. It's called the ExpressVote XL, and security experts say point-blank it is "a bad voting machine". (7) Some are saying that will take a long time to certify the ExpressVote XL, but the process is well under way. Let's get protections in place now!
Setting strong election security laws is the responsibility of the legislature. The State Board of Elections relies on these statutes to make decisions about what machines may be certified. But the current laws are from 2008, just after the release of the first iPhone. That's an eternity in security years.
The good news is that voting machines that security experts say are a better choice and that many disability advocates support are applying now for certification. Three vendors, including Hart InterCivic, Democracy Live and Clear Ballot will all be submitting non-hybrid systems soon. A1115/S309 will give that process a chance and also allow for the Dominion "ICE' machines that have been purchased to be used in more secure ways.
But, if we don't pass this legislation, "bad" hybrid voting machines "will deteriorate our security and our ability to have confidence in our elections."(8)
Close to 60 bipartisan legislators are co-sponsoring A1115A /S309A, including 11 members of the Assembly Election Law Committee. We must get it to the floor and pass it this session!Please send a letter right now to New York legislators and election officials, then share it with your family, friends, and networks. You can send the pre-loaded letter, or write your own.
Click the red button (on the bottom right) that says "Start Writing" to quickly send a letter.
Anyone can send the letter. New York state has historically been a leader on election security. If New York standards are diminished, other states could be at risk. If high standards are created in New York, other states may follow.
Footnotes:
1) Princeton Computer Science. Professor Andrew Appel writes letter of support for A1115A/S309A to the leadership of the New York Legislature, 6/4/21
2) "The ExpressVote XL Voting Machine: Bad for New York's Elections," Common Cause/ New York, Jan. 2020
4) Letter from Professor Rich DeMillo, Chair of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at Georgia Tech to New York State Board of Elections, 6/5/19
