Election Data Analyzer

And now Microsoft is getting into the market place. They are partnering with existing election equipment vendors like Smartmatic, ClearBallot and Dominion..... https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2019/07/17/new-cyberthreats-require-new-ways-to-protect-democracy/

More details on the DARPA model. https://www.darkreading.com/vulnerabilities-threats/darpa-to-bring-its-smart-ballot-boxes-to-def-con-for-hacking

And here is a more detailed description of DARPA's project. '“This is only the beginning. This is a problem that is so big that one DARPA program isn’t going to solve even 20 percent of the problem.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/yw84q7/darpa-is-building-a-dollar10-million-open-source-secure-voting-system

DARPA is now involved in developing open source code voting equipment and demonstrated in at DEFCON 2020. I am not advocating for it here, just passing along what is a very "entertaining" article and shows the hypocrisy of the MSM and political class, as if we needed more of it. https://www.cnet.com/news/lawmakers-turn-to-hackers-at-def-con-to-get-election-security/

The "Culture of Election Security" as described by a 30 year veteran election administrator. I don't know what party this admin is and it doesn't matter. She strikes me as a stand up public servant trying to do her best. This is from Jan 2016 when it was OK for people to discuss "the machines" without being called a wackadoodle. She describes some of the challenges with voting from precincts versus voting centers....many other interesting challenges. Worth 20 minutes of your time. https://www.usenix.org/conference/enigma2016/conference-program/presentation/debeauvoir

How Much Do Elections Cost? It seems nobody really knows....not kidding. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/election-costs.aspx

Top 10 List Buyer Beware. Sounds complicated right? https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/document_library/files/Managing%20Election%20Technology%20Series%20Ten%20Things%20FINAL.6.24.15.pdf

Glimpse of the future? Remote Ballot Marking Devices....a fancy name for voting at home by printing your own ballot and using a web browser. From the above standard. This is our government tax dollars at work through the EAC making these standards up. Someone might say, "well we have to accommodate people with disabilities". Yes we should make reasonable efforts to do so, but, at what cost to the integrity of the system to the rest of the voting public? Just asking..

I must admit, I have only read part of this document, mostly because my eyes began to cross with confusion due to the complexity, and I am a technical person. Ask yourself, does the EAC really expect County workers, who from what I have read, have a high degree of turnover and some times lack deep IT experience, to understand how to implement this? Or are these Counties going to "trust the vendor" and "trust the testing lab" and "trust the experts" who are certifying the machines? That is the fundamental problem here in my view. The trajectory is towards more and more technology that is ever more complex. I have yet to see any "think tank" write a study comparing simpler paper based manual process versus "high tech" solutions out lined in this standard. If you are aware of such a study, post it here. https://www.eac.gov/sites/default/files/TestingCertification/Voluntary_Voting_System_Guidelines_Version_2_0.pdf

And here is an example of what happened after implementing "state of the art" touch screen technology in 2008. Someone might say, we don't use touch screen anymore. We use paper ballots with a Tabulator that's not connected to the internet.....right. At least the press was discussing these topics back in 2008. https://www.wired.com/2008/10/law-center-send/

This is an astonishing read. Roll back time to October 2001 when the manual punch card system requiring NO electricity was still being used in Los Angeles. The official here is warning of all the complexities and failure points that would exist in transitioning to touch screen voting. He even calls it "ATM style voting" (funny not so funny). This letter is prophetic. Direct quote from 2001 : " Engineering and delivering a successful replacement voting system on the uniquely demanding scale of serving 4.1 million voters will depend upon identifying and solving a myriad of challenges including funding, logistical concerns, staff and vendor resources, poll worker training, voter education and the impact on the 88 cities that conduct elections in the County. It is essential to avoid a hastily implemented process that could deliver a legacy of poll workers overwhelmed by technology, unable to serve a large number of voters, and/or procuring expensive equipment that becomes obsolete within a short period of time." He forgot about the most important topic. CYBERSEURITY. https://rrcc.lacounty.gov/GENERAL/ARCHIVES/vs-replacement.htm#11

Truck Trudeau

From the Business of Voting cited above...The Brennan Center estimates that replacing all the voting machines in the United States would entail costs that “fall somewhere between $580 million and $3.5 billion,” and forecasts the actual figure at “well over $1 billion.”47 Including support costs, this again would translate into about a $300 million annual industry ($1 billion amortized over a 10-year useful life, plus an estimated 20% of acquisition annual cost of support). Data available online from PrivCo seem to corroborate this revenue picture, and indicate that the revenues of the top three firms (ES&S, Dominion, and Hart, which together comprise over 90% of the market) totaled approximately $351 million in 2015 (see Figure 7).48 The OSET Institute, however, believes the replacement costs will be toward the high end of the range cited by the Brennan Center, coming in slightly over $3 billion. They base their calculation on the premise that 2.45 million machines will need to be purchased to serve the 10,079 jurisdictions throughout the U.S., with the replacement cost of those machines estimated at $1,250 “per seat.” Those figures would imply that annual revenue going forward would reach $800 to $900 million (with the range depending on whether machines have a 10- or 15-year useful life). However, in the best case, it likely would take several years to reach this level due to the timing of the procurement cycle, even if funding became immediately available.

Another flashback to 2012 when you could discuss this topic and not be labelled a wackadoodle. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/B/bo13383590.html

In case you were wondering, the source is the Business of Voting referenced above.