The best way to conduct elections
Especially if we have an unforeseen event
Here is a way we can hand count ballots should our systems have issues on election day. I encourage you to read this blog below and follow along with the video to try this simple and fun method. Contact us if you want furhter training on this method.
Rassmussen has polled ‘likely voters’ since the 2020 election and the results consistently show that most do not trust electronic voting systems. Notably, 62% believe that there will be cheating in the 2024 election. These results have increased over time, with Democrats and Independents in addition to Republicans increasingly concerned.
Recent incidents of cyber hacks on governmental systems only add to these concerns. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) warn that the threat assessment of a cyber-attack on the 2024 election is “likely.”
Furthermore, the Crowdstrike incident in July not only affected airlines, hospitals, and businesses but it also affected early voting in the Arizona primary. Electronic poll books, which are connected to the internet were down, crippling two of the largest counties in the state. This issue potentially impacts all 50 states as they all have Albert Sensors which are used to detect malicious traffic in the counties, including election equipment. What effect did the Crowdstrike debacle have on the election infrastructure since these Albert Sensors supposedly run on servers that use Crowdstrike for endpoint security? Can we be assured that our systems weren’t affected? Inquiring minds what to know.
At the minimum, each county needs to have an emergency plan in place to mitigate any unforeseen events as well as to ensure that there is a smooth, uninterrupted vote for the 2024 election. People don’t trust these systems and these recent events only increase concerns over the accuracy of our vote count. There is a better way– a simple, efficient, and transparent method to count ballots. This method can be used as an alternative to machines or can be utilized in the event of an equipment failure or interruption of an electronic voting system. Furthermore, it is a great way to conduct hand-count audits.
Here is a link to the full Gold Standard report for conducting all phases of the election process (Voter Registration, Voter Validation, Marking and Counting, Reporting) to optimize transparency, security, verifiability, and accessibility of our elections.
The video below primarily focuses on the counting of the ballots which is only one part of the 3rd phase of the process, albeit a critical one. It explains the method and includes a quick video (3 minutes and 43 second) clip of someone calling out the names from the actual ballot images from the 2022 Treasurer’s race in Dodge County, WI. We run through a tally of 100 ballots (2 stacks of 50) including ballots from both the ES&S Express Vote Ballot Marking Device (BMD) as well as hand-marked ballots—not unlike your typical mail-in ballot.
Continue to read this very important blog here and contact your eleciton officials to discuss how they can use this for emergencies or for hand count audits.
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You friendly election integrity advocates. We are working hard to ensure your elections are secure, transparent, verifiable and accessible.
Warmly,
SC Safe Elections team