Arkansas: Seven counties sign on for new voting gear | Michael R. Wickline/Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Seven counties are scheduled to have new voting equipment in time for the March 3 elections, reducing by a third the number of counties using old equipment, under recently signed contracts. Secretary of State John Thurston's office signed contracts in the past several weeks with Nebraska-based Election Systems & Software for Lincoln, Madison, Mississippi, Phillips, Poinsett, Saline and Van Buren counties, according to records in the secretary of state's office. It's possible Drew County might soon sign a similar contract with Thurston's office, said Kurt Naumann, administrative director in the secretary of state's office. The records show the state's share of the cost for new equipment in the seven counties will total $1.7 million, with the countries contributing $902,938. Among the seven, Saline County will get the largest state contribution, $496,005, to match its $482,588.

Colorado: Garfield County election judges stay busy in early November | Chelsea Self /Post Independent

On and leading up to Election Day, anyone who enters Room 101 B in the Garfield County Courthouse must sign in and out with a bright pink or green pen – intentionally different colors than the blue or black ink voters use to fill out their ballots. It’s just one of the many steps taken to ensure all votes are counted – and that the count is done with integrity. “We have all of these checks and balances,” Lois Wilmoth said. Wilmoth, who was born and raised in Glenwood Springs, has served as a mail-in election judge for over a decade.  Monday, Wilmoth meticulously verified that the number of envelopes that entered room 101 B matched the amount of ballots that would eventually run through the scanning machines. “Once you have a problem, you stop. Nobody goes ahead anywhere until you find the ballot that is missing,” Wilmoth said.

Florida: State and federal officials promise transparency but sidestep specifics on election security | Jeffrey Schweers/Tallahassee Democrat

State, local and federal officials asked the public to trust their ongoing efforts to strengthen Florida's election system against foreign and domestic threats leading up to the 2020 elections, but they refused to give any details. “We are committed to the maximum amount of transparency as possible,” Secretary of State Laurel Lee told more than a dozen reporters Friday at a 30-minute Tallahassee news conference hosted by Larry Keefe, U.S. Attorney for Florida's northern district. She dodged a barrage of questions about why the state won't say which counties were hacked in 2016, what vulnerabilities her office found during a review of the election systems of all 67 counties, and whether the state would disclose any future breaches or potential breaches to the public. A week ago, she sidestepped the same questions during a 30-minute interview with the Tallahassee Democrat citing security issues. Keefe said Friday's news conference was ushering in an "unprecedented" collaboration among state, federal and local officials responsible for election security, vowing his office will investigate and prosecute any election tampering.

Georgia: State rushes to install voting machines before 2020 election | Mark Niesse & David Wickert/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

With a presidential election on the line in 2020, Georgia is switching to a new voting company, Dominion Voting Systems, that state evaluators ranked second-best and that critics said will leave elections vulnerable. Dominion, based in Denver, must rush to install 30,000 voting machines for 7 million Georgia voters before the March 24 presidential primary, the largest rollout of elections equipment in U.S. history. Most voters in Tuesday’s local elections will cast ballots on Georgia’s 17-year-old machines, and voters in six counties are testing Dominion’s machines. The company faces intense scrutiny in Georgia, one of the most competitive states in the nation entering an election year featuring President Donald Trump and two U.S. Senate seats on the ballot. The challenge for Dominion is to seamlessly introduce computer-printed paper ballots in a state criticized last year over allegations of vote flipping, missing voter registrations, precinct closures, long lines and voter purges. The swift transition to new voting equipment has raised eyebrows far from Georgia. “What Georgia is trying to do basically blows my mind,” said Dwight Shellman, an election official at the Colorado secretary of state’s office. His state adopted a Dominion system in 2016. “We had 2 1/2 years to do it, and it was challenging,” Shellman said. “I can’t imagine implementing the number of counties Georgia has in, what, two months? Three months?” Actually, the work will take eight months. But the challenge remains daunting.

Illinois: State Elections Board: ‘We’re Under Constant Threat’ from Foreign Interference | Paris Schutz/WTTW

The 2020 election is just under a year away, and both federal and state election authorities say the threat of foreign interference is ramping up. Illinois was one of several states whose election infrastructure was attacked by Russians in 2016, and officials say they’ve made big changes to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But can voters be sure the new measures will work? The Illinois State Board of Elections says it has received $13.2 million in federal aid since 2016 to deal with foreign interference. As outlined in the Mueller report, Russian hackers successfully breached an Illinois voter database that included information such as names, addresses and voter registration status. The breach affected 76,000 Illinois voters, but the board says there is no evidence that hackers manipulated any of that information to try and change voter registration status and, ultimately, impact the outcome of the election. But they say it was a wakeup call.

Indiana: State to start seeing voting equipment changes | John Lynch/Ball State Daily

While some Hoosier voters will start seeing changes in electronic voting systems this election, Muncie will have to wait. In late July, the Indiana Election Commission approved the first voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) for electronic voting systems — a security measure that allows voters to independently verify their vote was correctly recorded, according to a press release from the Office of the Indiana Secretary of State. Almost half of the counties in Indiana use direct record electronic (DRE) machines, the press release stated. These machines have a paper trail in the back of the machines, but not visible to the voter. As a security measure, paper trails that are visible to the voter are being added to VVPAT electronic voting equipment, it stated. “Adding VVPATs to election equipment will help boost voter confidence and allow us to implement risk limiting audits,” said Secretary of State Connie Lawson in the press release. “Together, these practices will show voters at the polls their vote is safe and secure and following up with a post-election audit will confirm their vote was counted. As we prepare for the upcoming presidential election, we will be working to protect 2020 and beyond.”

Virginia: We now know that Russia specifically targeted Virginia elections in 2016 | Mike Valerio/WUSA

Russian hackers with the Kremlin’s military intelligence unit targeted Virginia’s election infrastructure in 2016 – a cyber operation now confirmed by current and former state election officials. The Russian effort searched for vulnerabilities within Virginia’s online election infrastructure, authorities familiar with the matter said. The specific Russian actions targeting Virginia have not been previously reported. Analysts within the Department of Homeland Security eventually traced the suspicious activity to the GRU, the Russian military spy agency. The attempts to break into Virginia’s election systems did not change any votes, steal any personal information, or affect any voting during the presidential election, the officials stressed. Yet Richmond first received notice of the Russian reconnaissance only after hackers looked for weaknesses within the state’s election websites. Federal investigators disseminated a critical cyber bulletin known as a FLASH alert only days after malicious actors broke into Illinois’s voter database in the summer of 2016. The alert detailed how the Illinois Board of Elections reported an unusual surge in online traffic – traffic later traced back to Russia.

Europe: On the front line in Europe’s war against Russian election interference | Ellie Zolfagharifard/The Telegraph

The hackers who fought against Russia in the first ever nationwide cyber attack are today hailed as heroes. “I’ve been to parties where people would discuss how they fought in the cyber war,” says Pactum’s Kristjan Korjus, with a combination of pride and envy. “They had to try to get to the main server rooms and hack for several days and nights… it was really cool.” It may not sound as dramatic as aiming a gun on a battlefield, but the work of these cyber warriors was crucial in thwarting a Russian assault that could have brought down a nation. Today, as the UK prepares for a General Election, Estonia believes Britain can learn from its efforts in defending against online attacks and misinformation. “This is a country that is on the front line of digital warfare,” says Scott Dodson, Lingvist’s chief growth officer, who moved from Seattle to Tallinn several years ago. “It’s kind of a fact of life that, you know, I don't think people in the UK or the US really appreciate... essentially this region is kind of a firewall [against Russian attacks].” That’s partly thanks to Nato’s Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence, codenamed K5, which sits in the shadow of grey Soviet high-rises in the suburbs of Tallinn.   Surrounded by barbed wire and armoured trucks, K5 looks like something out of a spy film. "We get people asking if they can tour this as part of their stag party all the time," laughs Aari Lemmik, who heads up the centre's communications team. 

Namibia: Windhoek protesters call for electronic voting machine removal | The Namibian

More than 100 protesters on Saturday took to the streets of Windhoek to vent their frustrations and anger around the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) at the upcoming presidential and National Assembly elections. The protestors started their demonstration in the Havana informal settlement on the outskirts of Windhoek, and headed to the head office of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN), where they were expected to hand over their petition to the commission's chief electoral and referenda officer, Theo Mujoro. Mujoro did not show up on the day to receive the petition. “I don't take instructions from the Namibian Police. I read about the intention of people to march on social media. Nobody has written to me as the chief electoral officer or the commission about the planned march. So, I had no obligation to receive anything from anybody,” Mujoro told Nampa on Saturday.

United Kingdom: Prime Minister accused of cover-up over report on Russian meddling in UK politics | Dan Sabbagh and Luke Harding/The Guardian

Boris Johnson was on Monday night accused of presiding over a cover-up after it emerged that No 10 refused to clear the publication of a potentially incendiary report examining Russian infiltration in British politics, including the Conservative party. Downing Street indicated on Monday that it would not allow a 50-page dossier from the intelligence and security committee to be published before the election, prompting a string of complaints over its suppression. The committee’s chairman, Dominic Grieve, called the decision “jaw dropping”, saying no reason for the refusal had been given, while Labour and Scottish National party politicians accused No 10 of refusing to recognise the scale of Russian meddling. Fresh evidence has also emerged of attempts by the Kremlin to infiltrate the Conservatives by a senior Russian diplomat suspected of espionage, who spent five years in London cultivating leading Tories including Johnson himself.

National: New federal guidelines could ban internet in voting machines | Eric Geller/Politico

A long-awaited update to federal voting technology standards could ban voting machines from connecting to the internet or using any wireless technology such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. A new draft of version 2.0 of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines says that voting machines and ballot scanners “must not be capable of establishing wireless connections,” “establishing a connection to an external network” or “connecting to any device that is capable of establishing a connection to an external network.” If they survive a review process, the new rules would represent a landmark development in voting technology oversight, eliminating one of cybersecurity experts’ top concerns about voting machines by plugging holes that skilled hackers could exploit to tamper with the democratic process. The wireless and internet bans are included in the latest draft of the “system integrity” section of the VVSG update. A working group focused on the VVSG’s cybersecurity elements reviewed the document during an Oct. 29 teleconference.

National: Almost 100 former officials, members of Congress urge Senate action on election security | Maggie Miller/The Hill

A group of nearly 100 former members of Congress, Cabinet officials, ambassadors and other officials is urging Congress to take action to secure U.S. elections, citing “severe threats to our national security” if certain steps are not taken. The officials, all of whom are members of nonprofit political action group Issue One’s “ReFormer’s Caucus,” sent a letter to the Senate on Thursday urging members to support various bills designed to bolster election security. “Foreign interference in American elections is a national security emergency,” the group wrote. “We are alarmed at the lack of meaningful Congressional action to secure our elections. The United States cannot afford to sit by as our adversaries exploit our vulnerabilities. Congress — especially the Senate — must enact a robust and bipartisan set of policies now.” Specifically, the officials advocated for the passage of five bipartisan bills, including the Honest Ads Act, a bill meant to increase the transparency surrounding online political ads, and the Defending Elections from Threats by Establishing Redlines (DETER) Act, which would impose sanctions on countries that interfere in U.S. elections. The officials also urged the Senate to pass legislation aimed at increasing the cybersecurity of voting infrastructure and cracking down on foreign donations to U.S. elections.

National: Voting machines still easy prey for determined hackers | Derek B. Johnson/FCW

Security researchers showed lawmakers and reporters how easy it is to compromise voting machines in what has become an annual event at the U.S. Capitol. The Washington, D.C., version of the Voting Village event at the DefCon security conference in Las Vegas gives policymakers a hands-on glimpse of the technology that powers U.S. democracy. This year's report is consistent with prior exercises: virtually every machine experts can get their hands on can be easily exploited in a number of different ways. What has changed in recent years, said Voting Village Co-founder Harri Hursti, is that the community of security researchers with first-hand experience working with these machines has grown from less than a dozen to thousands. Even though the annual event has been held for several years, fresh researchers have discovered of new vulnerabilities and attack vectors. "In this area, it's always mind-blowing how these machines keep giving," Hursti told FCW.

National: Four ways to address electronic voting security concerns | Earl D. Matthews/StateScoop

Despite the $380 million in federal grants made to states to update the security of their election systems, we are still woefully unprepared to deal with potential attacks on our essential digital voting infrastructure. With the 2020 election cycle fast approaching, there is tremendous urgency to address the underlying issues that jeopardize the sanctity of our elections.

As former director of cyber operations and chief information security officer for the U.S. Air Force, as well as with my more recent experience working in the cybersecurity sector, I have a fairly unique perspective on how our state governments should be addressing election security. In my view, the main cause of our cybersecurity-unpreparedness is that we are not looking at the problem holistically, nor are we fully appreciating the complexity involved. Solutions being posed only address part of the problem and inevitably fall short, thus putting our democracy at serious risk.

States are ultimately responsible for election systems and their security, but cybersecurity solutions vendors can also contribute to this effort. Below are four steps that state governments should take, working with the technology community, to effectively address vulnerabilities in the voting system and better protect our democratic process through cybersecurity practices, people and technology.

1. Mandate transparency from e-voting hardware and software providers about security of their software and require them to identify security vulnerabilities.

What I’m talking about is mandating cybersecurity hygiene, much in the same way that companies require cybersecurity hygiene of the organizations with which they do business or form partnerships. There is a broad range of commercial providers of election system technology, each playing a different role in the overall e-voting system ecosystem — some of which have begun offering free, open-source versions of their software to governments — making it critical for providers to be transparent about potential vulnerabilities in their systems. Similar to how Microsoft releases patches and upgrades when new threats are discovered to offer users greater protections, this needs to happen in our election system as well. As part of this transparency, ongoing monitoring and measurement of the effectiveness of each component also needs to be conducted, which leads to my next point.

2. Instate continuous, automated measurement and monitoring of the effectiveness of security controls.

States need to understand how systems are protecting against new and existing vulnerabilities, and this needs to be automatically monitored on an ongoing basis with cooperation from each software provider. Too often, assumptions are made that security technology and protocols are working as they’re supposed to — but given the complexity of IT environments, the number of software elements that need to work together and the volume of network and access changes made every day, misconfigurations that compromise performance are common. To ensure optimal performance of the overall security environment requires quantifiable measurement and evidence that controls are working as they should.

3. Limit access for government employees to certain portions of the election system based on role and need.

In the business world, insider threats pose greater risks to organizations than external forces, and the same can be true for governments.

National: FBI chief warns of possible 2020 interference from Russia, China | Maggie Miller/The Hill

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday testified that he expects Russian actors to attempt to interfere in the 2020 elections, adding that he also expects countries like China to explore disinformation efforts. “Some of the things that the Russians have tried in other countries we expect them to try to do here as well, it’s pretty common to test it out in other jurisdictions, thankfully we don’t have elections every year, so that gives us a little bit of time to plan ahead,” Wray testified in regards to potential attacks on U.S. elections to the House Homeland Security Committee. Wray did not offer details of what exactly the Russians might attempt due to the open setting of the hearing. Wray noted that while the FBI has not seen “any intention” from China, Iran and North Korea to attempt attacks on election infrastructure, these countries are “clearly interested in engaging in malign foreign influence” in regards to elections, such as through social media disinformation efforts.

National: GOP senator blocks sweeping election reform bill | Jordain Carney/The Hill

A Republican senator blocked a sweeping House-passed election and ethics reform bill on Wednesday, the latest of several failed attempts by Democrats to advance election-related legislation ahead of 2020. Democratic Sens. Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Tom Udall (N.M.) tried to pass the ethics and elections reform measure, known as H.R. 1, which they argued had been buried in the upper chamber's "legislative graveyard." "The For the People Act repairs our broken campaign finance system, opens up the ballot box to all Americans [and] lays waste to the corruption in Washington," Udall said. "We must unite in defense of our electoral system and in defense of the sanctity of our democracy." Merkley argued that the bill was crucial "because everything else we care about ... is going to fail if we let this chamber be controlled by powerful special interests through this corrupted system." But Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, objected to the bill's passage, arguing that the legislation would "give the federal government unprecedented control over elections in this country."

National: Free cybersecurity help for campaigns is on its way | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

Securing political campaigns against cyberattacks is about to get a lot cheaper. A nonprofit group that won permission in May from the Federal Election Commission to provide campaigns with free and reduced-price cybersecurity help is announcing its first slate of services this morning, including email security, encrypted messaging and security training for staff. Defending Digital Campaigns, which was co-founded by Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager Robby Mook and Mitt Romney’s 2012 campaign manager Matt Rhoades, is basically a middleman for the services provided by cybersecurity companies. They’ll be available to presidential and congressional campaigns that meet certain polling or fundraising thresholds and to political party committees.The DDC announcement marks one of the biggest efforts yet to prevent a repeat of the 2016 election when Kremlin-linked hackers stole and released embarassing documents from the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton campaign in an effort to help the Trump campaign, according to U.S. intelligence officials.

National: Voting Village brings equipment to lawmakers to boost urgency on election security | Sean Lyngaas/CyberScoop

A year from the 2020 election and with a new round of election security funding stalled in Congress, the DEF CON Voting Village organizers have again taken to Capitol Hill to raise awareness about software vulnerabilities in voting equipment. This time, they brought the equipment with them to drive home their point. “If we’re going to meaningfully introduce funding or introduce new technologies for 2020, time is rapidly running out to be able to do that,” Matt Blaze, a professor at Georgetown University and co-organizer of the Voting Village, told CyberScoop. “We need to act pretty fast.” A handful of House Democrats and their staffers sauntered up to equipment on display, including a ballot-marking device and an electronic voting machine, to ask the researchers about the software bugs they found. “This is really helpful in understanding that these aren’t just abstract problems, that these are real things,” Blaze, an expert in cryptology, told CyberScoop. This is the second time in a month that the Voting Village has hosted an event on Capitol Hill. Last month, Blaze and Harri Hursti, another village organizer, unveiled the village’s annual report on flaws in voting gear that could be exploited by hackers.

National: Threat to US elections in 2020 is not limited to Russia | Eric Tucker/Associated Press

Russia interfered in the 2016 election and may try to sway next year’s vote as well. But it’s not the only nation with an eye on U.S. politics. American officials sounding the alarm about foreign efforts to disrupt the 2020 election include multiple countries in that warning. Concerns abound not only about possible hacking of campaigns but also about the spread of disinformation on social media and potential efforts to breach voting databases and even alter votes. The anxiety goes beyond the possibility that U.S. adversaries could affect election results: The mere hint of foreign meddling could undermine public confidence in vote tallies, a worrisome possibility in a tight election. “Unfortunately, it’s not just Russia anymore. In particular, China, Iran, a couple of others, studied what the Russians did in 2016,” said James Lewis, a cybersecurity expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Florida: New U.S attorney tries to restore confidence in Florida elections | Mary Ellen Klas/Miami Herald

As state officials acknowledge that domestic and foreign actors may be constantly attempting to penetrate Florida’s election infrastructure, U.S. Attorney Larry Keefe sees another danger that is equally formidable but perhaps harder to manage: public perception. “All you need is a computer and some shrewd, smart, social engineering-type people to get inside the heads of the Americans … and you can wreak havoc on a free and open society,’’ said Keefe, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Florida. Secretary of State Laurel Lee acknowledged this week that Florida’s election systems are under “daily” attack by foreign or domestic adversaries and, while she wouldn’t detail what the attacks are, she said the state has launched an aggressive campaign to educate and train local election officials to be able to counter those threats. Keefe said those attacks often attempt to “get inside our electronic election infrastructure and change the voter rolls or tabulations.”

Georgia: State Supreme Court affirms results of 2018 election | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that there wasn’t enough evidence to further dispute last year’s election for lieutenant governor, which had inexplicably low vote totals. An election can’t be overturned based solely on unusual vote counts in the lieutenant governor’s race — tens of thousands fewer than in every other statewide election — the court wrote in its 94-page decision upholding a lower court’s dismissal of the case. Specific evidence of illegal or improper votes is required, it said. The plaintiffs in the case alleged there were about 127,000 fewer votes than expected compared with previous elections, a larger disparity than the 123,172-vote margin of victory for Republican Geoff Duncan over Democrat Sarah Riggs Amico. “A party contesting an election must therefore offer evidence — not merely theories or conjecture — that places in doubt the result of an election,” according to the court’s 8-0 ruling, written by Justice Sarah Warren. “The petitioners in this case have not carried that burden.”

Georgia: $300K fine sought against Georgia in paper ballots lawsuit | Mark Niesse/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A federal judge is being asked to impose more than $300,000 in sanctions against Georgia over its reluctance to turn over election databases, a request that state attorneys say is unjustified because they need to protect election information. The dispute in the lawsuit, which is demanding hand-marked paper ballots be used in elections, could end up costing Georgia taxpayers if U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg agrees to penalize the state. The plaintiffs allege that Georgia election officials repeatedly obstructed efforts to inspect an elections database for tampering or flaws. Called the General Election Management System (GEMS) database, it contains programming for ballots used statewide. But attorneys for Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger say they wanted to ensure that election information was secure before disclosing it. After they eventually turned over the database this summer, the plaintiffs didn’t find any infections or problems, according to the state.

Michigan: Active duty military serving overseas could vote electronically under Michigan Senate-passed bill | Lauren Gibbons/MLive

Active duty members of the military serving overseas could send in their absentee ballots electronically under legislation passed in the Michigan Senate Wednesday. Senate Bills 117 and 297, sponsored by Senate Elections Chair Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, and Sen. Paul Wojno, D-Warren, would allow electronic absentee ballot returns for military voters serving overseas. The voter would sign their absentee ballot with an electronic signature verified by the U.S. Department of Defense. Under federal law, states are required to provide electronic absentee ballots to active members of the military 45 days before an election. But because Michigan doesn’t allow electronic absentee ballots, military voters serving overseas currently have to print out the ballot and mail it back - an extra step that can be difficult for people serving in areas with little to no mail service.

New Jersey: Questions of vulnerability surround New Jersey’s aging voting machines | Rob Anthes/Community News

In 2004, Hopewell resident Stephanie Harris went to her polling place for the presidential primary, never expecting what was about to happen would alter her life and the public discourse around voter security for the next decade and a half. When Harris entered the privacy booth that day, she saw one of Mercer County’s then-new touchscreen voting machines facing her, a model called the Sequoia AVC Advantage. She found her candidate of choice on the large paper ballot overlay, pressed the box next to the candidate’s name and then hit a large button at the bottom right of the machine to cast her vote. Typically, at this point, the AVC Advantage will make a noise to indicate a vote has been counted. For Harris, nothing happened. Harris exited the privacy booth slightly confused. A poll worker stopped her, and said her vote didn’t register and that she should try again. Harris did, four times with the same results. After the fifth time, the poll worker shrugged, and said, “Well, I think it worked.” Harris never received definitive confirmation her vote had been cast. To this day, she doesn’t know whether the machine recorded her vote. Harris couldn’t shake the feeling that her vote had been taken away. She asked the county for confirmation or at least an explanation. She didn’t get answers, but she did earn a new nickname, courtesy of a county freeholder—“the Incident in Hopewell.” So she sued.

Pennsylvania: $90M for Voting Machines, Mail-In Ballots Signed Into Law | Associated Press

Gov. Tom Wolf signed legislation Thursday that advocates say makes the most significant changes to modernize Pennsylvania election laws in 80 years and authorizes the state to borrow of up to $90 million to help counties buy new voting machines ahead of next year's presidential election. Wolf, a Democrat, said the legislation takes the nation's least voter-friendly election laws and puts them in line with states that have the highest voter turnout. The bill was negotiated privately by Wolf and leaders of the Republican-controlled Legislature. A draft first appeared last week . It passed the House and Senate on Tuesday and had the support of good-government groups.

Africa: Russia Tests New Disinformation Tactics in Africa to Expand Influence | Davey Alba and Sheera Frenkel/The New York Times

Russia has been testing new disinformation tactics in an enormous Facebook campaign in parts of Africa, as part of an evolution of its manipulation techniques ahead of the 2020 American presidential election. Facebook said on Wednesday that it removed three Russian-backed influence networks on its site that were aimed at African countries including Mozambique, Cameroon, Sudan and Libya. The company said the online networks were linked to Yevgeny Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch who was indicted by the United States and accused of interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Unlike past influence campaigns from Russia, the networks targeted several countries through Arabic-language posts, according to the Stanford Internet Observatory, which collaborated with Facebook to unravel the effort. Russians also worked with locals in the African countries to set up Facebook accounts that were disguised as authentic to avoid detection.

Bolivia: Police fire tear gas as president, opposition wrestle over election audit | Vivian Sequera & Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Protests over a disputed presidential election convulsed Bolivia on Tuesday as police fired tear gas in the capital and the sitting president and opposition candidate wrestled over an audit of the results. The brief suspension of publication of the results from an electronic count of the Oct. 20 presidential election has triggered protests and strikes that have closed roads, schools and businesses around the nation for more than a week. President Evo Morales, a leftist seeking a fourth term, was eventually declared the winner, prompting accusations of fraud from opposition candidate Carlos Mesa and his supporters. In La Paz, opposition protesters mounted road barricades of rope, wooden boards and sheets of metal. Rows of helmet-clad riot police lined some streets, separating Morales’ supporters from protesters opposed to the president. Tear gas was used in at least two locations to disperse protesters.

UAE: E-voting technology adopted by UAE a pioneering experiment in the region | Samir Salama/Gulf News

By adopting an election protection system, the National Election Committee reiterates its commitment to hold an election that is characterised by the highest degree of fairness and transparency by implementing the best internationally recognised practices used in the world’s most successful parliaments, said Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Minister of State for Federal National Council Affairs and Chairman of the National Election Committee. Dr Gargash said on the eve of the early voting that starts today at nine polling stations across the country, the highly accurate e-voting technology adopted by the NEC is a pioneering experiment in the region, which the UAE introduced during the first Federal National Council Elections in 2006.

Editorials: A simple step every state could take to safeguard elections | The Washington Post

Election security is a complex challenge. One essential step, however, is so simple it can be carried out with a pen and paper. Pennsylvania officials have announced that Philadelphia and Mercer County will conduct a post-election pilot next month of what’s called a risk-limiting audit. The procedure is new to most of the country, but 12 states are experimenting with it — because it’s that much of a no-brainer. Currently, 17 states are not required by law to verify the accuracy of their vote tallies at all. Those that are mostly do so the “traditional” way, which in this case means the wrong way. The process auditors typically use — manually recounting votes in a predetermined percentage of precincts — tells officials whether a particular machine or group of machines is working, but it doesn’t actually answer the essential question: Did the declared winner actually win? Risk-limiting audits instead do what any mathematician . They hand-count a statistically meaningful sample of all votes to determine whether the original tally was correct. The required sample increases as the margin of victory narrows. It’s easy, and it’s time-consuming only in the tightest elections, or when something actually has been tampered with. Of course, that’s when it’s most worth investing the time. So why isn’t everyone doing it?

National: The Market for Voting Machines Is Broken. This Company Has Thrived in It. | Jessica Huseman/ProPublica

In the glare of the hotly contested 2018 elections, things did not go ideally for ES&S, the nation’s largest manufacturer of voting technology. In Georgia, where the race for governor had drawn national interest amid concerns about election integrity, ES&S-owned technology was in use when more than 150,000 voters inexplicably did not cast a vote for lieutenant governor. In part because the aged ES&S-managed machines did not produce paper backups, it wasn’t clear whether mechanical or human errors were to blame. Litigation surrounding the vote endures to this day. In Indiana, ES&S’ systems were plagued by mishaps at the local level. In Johnson County, for instance, the company’s brand-new machines faltered in ways that made it difficult to know whether some people had voted more than once. “ES&S misjudged the need for appropriate resources to serve Johnson County on Election Day 2018,” a report issued by state election officials later concluded. Johnson County subsequently terminated its contract with ES&S and, this September, paid more than $1.5 million to purchase an entirely new set of equipment. The uneven performance by ES&S in 2018, however, did little to dent its position as one of the most popular and powerful voting technology companies in the U.S. Any number of prior controversies hadn’t either.