Mastodawn

Matt Blaze 2d ago

RE: https://esq.social/@SuffolkLITLab/116229521620498862

The ProPublica piece is kind of a mess - it doesn't even mention CISA by name - but some of the issues are concerning. In particular, the proposals are extremely vague.

They want to ban "voting machines" (under what authority?). Does that mean touchscreen DREs? Fine, that's what virtually all technical experts have recommended for a while. Or do they mean any electronic tabulation, including optical scan paper ballots (widely used and amenable to reliable post-election audits)?

Matt Blaze 2d ago

One gets the impression from the article that the current CISA leadership is focused more on re-litigating 2020 than on meaningfully helping states improve their election security, but hopefully they can be nudged toward advocating practical, proven, high-impact reforms, like default use of hand-marked paper ballots and routine post-election risk-limiting audits.

It's also worth noting that DHS/CISA has essentially no authority over elections, which are run by states. Their role is advisory, particularly recommending best practices and disseminating threat intelligence.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

Also, it's simply too late to make any major changes to election systems this year. Primaries have already started, and the general election is in eight months.

I think it's reasonable to suspect that the play here is simply to set the stage for casting doubt on election outcomes that they regard as unfavorable.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

Once again:

- There are security weaknesses in parts of US election systems, particularly those that use paperless touchscreen voting machines, and we should absolutely address them.

- Fortunately, there is no evidence to date that these technical weaknesses have ever been exploited to alter a US election outcome.

- We know how to secure elections! Paper ballots, optical scanners, post-election risk-limiting audits.

- There's been a great deal of progress, but there's still work to do.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

Finally, "whether your candidate won" is not a meaningful test for election fraud.

SellaTheChemist 2d ago

@mattblaze It reminds me of the changing room talk when I was eight years old after gym class where "you cheated" was always the talking point. Unfortunately when it comes to elections it's deadly serious.

@mattblaze Isn’t it a concern that mail-in ballots will be rejected and what happened in Texas will be more widespread?

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@CStamp Rejected by who? The federal government doesn't accept or reject ballots.

@mattblaze by the states who do receive them?

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@CStamp They can do that now.

@mattblaze GOP states seem more emboldened.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@CStamp The remedy for that is what campaigns do, and it isn't easy or cheap. Election protection operations on the ground, litigation, etc.

@mattblaze Are there really voting machines in use out there that do not at least print out paper copies of the voter's inputs? That seems like malpractice. It seems like the most obvious thing that they should either modify or print out a paper ballot for the sake of stuff like hand recounts and record keeping.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@dutch_connection_uk There are, though they are falling out of favor in most of the US.

@mattblaze I'm sorry for the follow up, but are any of the hold-outs that still use such machines in sensitive swingy places where there could potentially be some incident of national significance, or is this mostly in safer places where it's less likely to matter?

Matt Blaze 1d ago

@dutch_connection_uk Verified Voting has a reasonably up to date list by state and county: https://verifiedvoting.org/verifier/#mode/navigate/map/voteEquip/mapType/ppEquip/year/2026

Verifier

Verified Voting

@mattblaze Thank you, this is a great resource! It looks like it is indeed the case that such machines are not in any swing states, which is very reassuring.

Being Left Behind Enjoyer 2d ago

@mattblaze You cannot give these anti-democratic creeps any credence.

Actually responding to them as if their bullshit had any merit is bad.

If you say things like “there are security weaknesses” in response to them flinging propaganda shit, they have won already. You’re doing their propaganda for them.

Please don’t.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@thomasfuchs Except that there *are* security weaknesses in elections. We can't run away from that, and we don't do anyone any favors by pretending there aren't. The truth matters, even in 2026.

But as an election security expert, I try hard to put things in context. If you actually read the post you responded to, I think you'll see that.

@thomasfuchs @mattblaze
> Actually responding to them as if their bullshit had any merit is bad.

Their being lawless is orthogonal to the election security. And addressing real weakness works for the most important in any elections thing: voter's trust in the outcome. In my very humble opinion their projection✸
will work against them. Yelling that clerks all over the percint conspired against the king is harder to push than having a single "expert" influencer calling the mysterious electronics "rigged".

✸("they" know thoso machines can be rigged, they tested them thoroughly and massively)

@mattblaze
There are people in TX who recorded the touchscreen voting machines recording votes to candidates they didn't touch the buttons for.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@Eka_FOOF_A I've seen lots of claims like that, but they never seem to be replicable.

It's certainly *possible*, which is why such machines shouldn't be used.

Matthew Miller 2d ago

@Eka_FOOF_A @mattblaze

Eka, you should read this https://www.npr.org/2016/10/26/499450796/some-machines-are-flipping-votes-but-that-doesnt-mean-theyre-rigged

Andrew Prillaman 2d ago

@Eka_FOOF_A @mattblaze

So a miscalibrated touchscreen? Happens and should be brought to the attention of the staff at the precinct. They also saw that it selected the wrong candidate.

It’s also why should check what prints out on the paper ballot once it prints and if you see an issue bring it to the attention of the precinct staff.

@mattblaze
This is the system to use. Hand filled out ballots that are scanned. The machines are owned by GQP Operatives PRIVATE corporations. Dominion was just bought by a GQP former election official!! Not suspicious at all. The new machines use a bar code apparently. Anything like this can be tampered with. If people think these operatives won't fix with results by any means necessary, then they are deluded.

https://abcnews.com/US/dominion-voting-systems-sold-company-run-former-republican/story?id=126378259

Dominion Voting Systems sold to company run by former Republican election official

Dominion was at the center of false 2020 election fraud conspiracy theories.

ABC News

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@lin11c the people you’re citing are election deniers who are raising money to “prove” that the 2024 election was rigged. They’re suckering statistically unsophisticated Harris supporters with nonsensical but complex pseudo mathematical bullshit.

Please don’t promote this stuff.

From their website.

Are you saying this is false?

"New York elections are at a dangerous crossroads. New types of voting machines, called “all-in-one” and “universal-use”, are attempting to flood the state. After a four-year battle against it, a new All-in-One voting machine called the ExpressVote XL was approved on 8/2/23 by the NY State Board of Elections.

The ExpressVote XL also wraps your vote in a barcode. The barcode is what's counted, not the text you see...

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@lin11c no, I am not saying that particular statement is false. But they are grifters who are using fake statistics to claim that the 2024 election was stolen and raising money for lawsuits that give false hope to Harris supporters.

What a weird response.

@mattblaze
This was on their website. I will remove the link. There is an extreme under reaction to what is happening right now in terms of GQP sabotage leading up to the 2026 midterms IMO.

Andy Green, Ph.D.

@mattblaze we've got an ongoing mess in georgia.

we were using printed ballots from ballot marking devices that had a qr code at the bottom. the scanners were reading the qr code for counting purposes, not the human readable portion.

the good news is that we passed a law requiring the stoppage of that practice effective july 2026. the bad news is that an effort to require hand marked paper ballots failed by 2 votes in the senate this session.

i wrote a bit about it at https://andygreen.phd/blog/2026/03/13/sb568-fails-what-next/

i don't know what's going to happen next, to be honest...

Georgia Senate Bill 568 fails — again, we wait | Andrew William Green, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Information Security and Assurance, Kennesaw State University

lord pthenq1 2d ago

@mattblaze
I think the idea is to block people from voting.
All of us, blocked.
No matter if we vote Republican or Democrat.

Matthew Miller 2d ago

I hope you're right. I'm afraid the play will be to issue an 11th-hour executive order claiming some such authority (maybe nominally based on some obscure law or ruling that had never been interpreted like that before). Then tie everything up in state legislatures, courts, and chaos.

Matt Blaze 2d ago

@mattdm maybe they have MAGICAL POWERS, too.

Trying to stick to what we actually know here.

Matthew Miller 2d ago

Well, we know that they _claim_ magical powers all the time over other things — birthright citizenship, tariffs, whether someone is "entering" the US. If it were as simple as "they don't really have those powers so it won't be a problem"... well, it clearly isn't.

Trump has talked more than once about cancelling the election. (https://time.com/7346834/trump-canceling-midterm-elections-joking-white-house/). Is it a "joke"? Well... I think this puts it well: https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/07/19/donald-trump-joking-serious-00442035

We can't _know_, but he _has_ put it on the table.

White House Insists Trump Is ‘Joking’ About Canceling Midterm Elections

Trump has suggested canceling the upcoming midterm elections not once, but twice, in a matter of days.

Time

ShnoofleBear /ʃnuːfɛlbɛːr/2d ago

@mattblaze If i had to go with the prior MO of the current US govt i would say they want to
- Keep devices that are prone to manipulation
- Get rid of everything that ensures accountability