Michigan: New voting machines coming to Michigan: Here’s how they’re different | Detroit Free Press

Cities across Michigan will be breaking in new voting equipment for Tuesday’s primary, following the discovery of irregularities during last year’s presidential election recount and as a commission appointed by the president looks into questions of voter integrity across the country. Detroit, which experienced numerous problems during the November 2016 election, will be the biggest of the 60 cities that will switch to the new voting machines next week. Some 45 counties will have the equipment on board by the November election. All municipalities in the state will be hooked up by the August 2018 primary election. “We knew it was time to get new equipment,” Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said during a demonstration Wednesday of the new equipment in Rochester Hills. “Our equipment was at least 10 years old and nearing the end of its life. Elections are too important to rely on old voting machines.” “They’ve made a lot of changes. We have high hopes for them,” said Sally Williams, the state’s newly appointed elections director.

Utah: Security on mind as state auditions new voting machines, software | Deseret News

Just last weekend, a long-running hackers convention in Las Vegas lined up a dozen U.S. electronic voting machines, many of which were obtained from government auctions and second-hand sources like eBay, and unleashed attendees on them. By the end of the weekend, all of the machines had been breached in one form or another. And while most of the equipment was somewhat out of date in terms of technology, a few of the models are still in use. DefCon 25 organizers said the exercise was about illustrating and helping address security vulnerabilities in the U.S. election system, a popular national conversation topic following allegations that are still under investigation of outside meddling in the 2016 election cycle. On Wednesday, another lineup of voting machines popped up at the Utah Capitol. This time, however, the event was aimed at giving members of the public an opportunity to audition some of the latest in voting technology as part of a state process to choose a new provider of voting equipment for county officials who operate Utah elections.

Editorials: Is Harris County’s vote safe from the Russians? | Dan Wallach/Houston Chronicle

Last September, in the run-up to the election, we learned that Russians had attempted to attack 33 states’ voter registration databases, later revised upward to 39 states. I was asked to testify about this in Congress, and my main concern was that the Russians might attempt to simply delete voters altogether, creating electoral chaos. All the pieces were in place, but the election came and went without wide-scale problems. What happened? We know that the Obama and Putin had a “blunt” meeting at the G20 that same September, so it’s possible that Obama was able to rattle Putin enough to make him pull back. Maybe Putin decided that leaking stolen emails was good enough. We may never know the full story, but what is clear is that we need to adequately defend ourselves against future nation-state attacks on our elections, whether from Russia or elsewhere. As James Comey warned the Senate Intelligence Committee recently, “They will be back.”

Michigan: State finalizes $82M contract for new voting machines | The Detroit News

The Secretary of State’s office finalized its contract to replace the state’s ailing voting machines with new equipment in time for the August 2018 primaries. The Board of State Canvassers on Tuesday approved a plan the State Administrative Board previously authorized. It could grant vendors up to $82.1 million over the next 10 years to replace the state’s voting machines with new optical scanners expected to be up and running by August 2018. The new machines still use paper ballots, so not much changes for voters in the polling booth, said state Elections Director Chris Thomas. But the new technology will make things easier for election workers by setting up a statewide repository showing results all in one place. “The voters themselves are not gonna notice a whole lot,” Thomas said. “Just to have a statewide repository for all elections – it just doesn’t exist right now. It’s a big step forward. No question.”

Michigan: State moves on $82M voting machine plan | The Detroit News

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson is moving forward with plans to replace aging voting machines around the state with “next generation” systems by August 2018. The State Administrative Board on Tuesday unanimously approved up to $82.1 million in spending over the next 10 years under contracts with three vendors who will supply new tabulator machines, election-management software and maintenance agreements. The state is expected to cover about $40 million of the spending, including most up-front costs, leaving local communities to foot the rest of the bill. Cost-sharing requirements will vary by community depending on which vendor local clerks select. “The new equipment offers voters all the speed and convenience of the latest ballot-scanning and election-night reporting technology while at the same time featuring a good, old-fashioned paper ballot that we can always go back and look at if we need to,” Johnson said in a statement.

Michigan: Voters may see new voting machines as soon as August | MLive.com

Michigan limped through the last election on machines that were more than a decade old, but clerks across the state will soon purchase new ones under contracts approved by the State Administrative Board on Tuesday. “Every election currently, we’re always dealing with different types of mechanical breakdowns … just because the equipment is old and it’s time to upgrade to new technology,” said City of Walker Clerk Sarah Bydalek, who is president of the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks. Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum said the old machines her precincts use come with humidity issues, and jam if ballots absorb too much moisture. But clerks are expecting those issues to decrease with a statewide rollout of new voting machines by Aug. 2018. The State Administrative Board approved 10-year contracts with three different vendors: Dominion Voting Systems, Election Systems and Software and Hart InterCivic. Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams said each county clerk would choose a system to go with, and local clerks in that county would purchase that system.

Michigan: State Selects New Voting Machine Vendors for Next Election | Government Technology

New voting equipment will be available for the next statewide election in August 2018 after the Michigan Secretary of State announced the selection of three vendors Tuesday that local clerks can use for future elections. The pricetag will not be cheap. The state administrative board approved contracts Tuesday with the three vendors that will cost between $52 million and $82 million. The state has $30 million leftover from the federal Help America Vote Act funds that were provided to states for new equipment after the 2000 elections. And the Legislature approved an additional $10 million last year to pay for the new machines. And while that will cover the majority of the cost for the new system, Fred Woodhams, spokesman for Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, said Tuesday that there will be a cost for local communities of roughly $1,000 to $2,000 per precinct. Some communities have a minimal number of precincts, but for cities like Detroit, Warren, Southfield and Grand Rapids, the costs could be significant. Detroit has nearly 500 precincts, while Grand Rapids has 77, Warren has 58 and Southfield has 36.

National: US election machine technology is out of date, experts say | CNBC

Experts say the chances of hacking at the polls are remote, since voting machines aren’t typically connected to the internet. Still, research shows the technology behind most of these machines is grossly outdated. Forty-three states have voting machines that are at least a decade old, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan policy group at New York University’s Law School. Gregory Miller, co-founder of the Oset Institute, which works with election officials to update infrastructure, said most voting machines are running on outdated software like Windows 2000. “The largest problem here is that the PC-based equipment is based upon technology that is not only antiquated, but it is flat out obsolete,” Miller said. “Innovation in this space has devolved to a discussion of spare parts from Asia, and software patches from Eastern Europe.” Three main companies provide the vast majority of voting machines for U.S. elections — ES&S, Dominion Voting Systems and Hart InterCivic. The challenge facing the companies, according to Miller, is that states don’t have money to buy upgraded equipment, so companies don’t have the incentive to innovate.

National: The Computer Voting Revolution Is Already Crappy, Buggy, and Obsolete | Bloomberg

Six days after Memphis voters went to the polls last October to elect a mayor and other city officials, a local computer programmer named Bennie Smith sat on his couch after work to catch up on e-mail. The vote had gone off about as well as elections usually do in Memphis, which means not well at all. The proceedings were full of the technical mishaps that have plagued Shelby County, where Memphis is the seat, since officials switched to electronic voting machines in 2006. Servers froze, and the results were hours late. But experts at the county election commission assured both candidates and voters that the problems were minor and the final tabulation wasn’t affected. … Shelby County uses a GEMS tabulator—for Global Election Management System—which is a personal computer installed with Diebold software that sits in a windowless room in the county’s election headquarters. The tabulator is the brains of the system. It monitors the voting machines, sorts out which machines have delivered data and which haven’t, and tallies the results. As voting machines check in and their votes are included in the official count, each machine’s status turns green on the GEMS master panel. A red light means the upload has failed. At the end of Memphis’s election night in October 2015, there was no indication from the technician running Shelby County’s GEMS tabulator that any voting machine hadn’t checked in or that any votes had gone missing, according to election commission e-mails obtained by Bloomberg Businessweek. Yet as county technicians followed up on the evidence from Smith’s poll-tape photo, they discovered more votes that never made it into the election night count, all from precincts with large concentrations of black voters.

Indiana: State OK’s Monroe County’s voting equipment for fall election use | Herald Times

Monroe County officials can use Hart InterCivic voting equipment for the upcoming general election despite the Indiana Election Commission’s having censured the vendor for failure to comply with state voting laws. County Elections Supervisor Laura Dahncke said the Indiana Election Commission approved a resolution allowing Hart InterCivic, the county’s voting machines vendor, and two others, Dominion and Election Systems and Software, to use current machines in the general election. At a June Indiana Election Commission meeting, clerks learned that equipment could possibly be decertified. William Ellis, the Republican member on the Monroe County Election Board, said he believes the Indiana Election Commission made the right choice in allowing use of current voting equipment this year. He noted that it also gives vendors and legislators more time to address possible certification issues based on a change in interpretation of the law. “The history behind this has to do with a very poorly written statute,” said county Clerk Nicole Browne. “The wording of the statute, if applied literally, compromised voter intent.”

California: San Mateo County elections officials switch to paper ballots after electronic voting machine glitch | San Jose Mercury News

A software glitch in 140 electronic voting machines prompted San Mateo County elections officials to dole out paper ballots while technicians scrambled to fix the error Tuesday morning. The problem was coding, said Jim Irizarry, assistant chief elections officer. The agency uses the Hart InterCivic “eSlate” machine, he said. Those machines are connected to a central system, and without the proper coding, the voting machines could not communicate to the central system. The glitch “should not have occurred,” Irizarry said. “When you’re programming the units, you should code them properly,” he said. “I believe we probably did not code those machines as well as we should have.”

Idaho: Frustrations over learning curve with accessible voting machines | KTVB

For many, exercising their right to vote is more complicated than just filling in a box. Across the state there are voting machines for people with a variety of disabilities. But KTVB spoke with one voter who’s blind and says those expensive terminals weren’t any help. Boise resident Bill Morgan votes in every election he can. However, he says oftentimes it can be a struggle getting to the polls. In addition, if the machines to help people with disabilities are hard to navigate, some people may find voting discouraging. “I think it’s the most important thing I can do as a citizen,” Morgan said. “People died so that I could vote.” Being blind, he’s been using accessible voting machines in general elections for the past several years. “I will vote any way I can,” Morgan told KTVB. “But if I can make my own ‘X’ that just makes me feel proud. I like that.”

Idaho: Ada County absentee ballots duplicated after programming error | KBOI

Ada County elections officials have stopped short of calling it the first “glitch” in the county’s new $1.6 million voting tabulation system, but it’s definitely on the books as a programming error. Routine testing leading up to the Tuesday’s primary election identified that the first mailing of absentee ballots did not have the correct identifying marks needed to be read by the tabulation software. This first mailing took place on March 30th and included 2,660 mailed ballots. All subsequent ballots mailed have the correct markings and they will tabulate accurately, said Chief Deputy Phil McGrane with the Ada County Clerk’s Office.

Idaho: Ada County voters may see faster results with new election system | Idaho Statesman

Facing a busy election year, Ada County said a year ago that it would ditch its antiquated voting equipment and get a new voting system in place for the 2016 presidential election. The county has been using outdated, hard-to-find Zip disks and Zip drives, dot-matrix printers and temperamental counting machines to tally and track vote tabulation. “The risks were becoming exceedingly high for a failure on election night,” said Chief Deputy Clerk Phil McGrane. For the March 8 Republican presidential primary, Ada County will debut a state-of-art replacement, the first equipment of its kind to be used in Idaho. Voters will not notice much difference when they vote. They still will receive a paper ballot and use a pen or pencil to fill in a box indicating their selection. The biggest change will be how and where the county counts ballots. Ada County has been using a central counting system. When Election Day polls closed at 8 p.m., workers from nearly 140 polling places scurried to deliver ballots to the central election office for counting. Most ballots arrived about the same time, but then sat and waited to be fed into counting machines.

Colorado: New voting-machine mandates irk cash-strapped counties | The Colorado Independent

Voting equipment across Colorado’s 64 counties will have to be replaced in the next two years in order to comply with requirements of a 2009 state law. And Secretary of State Wayne Williams just designated one company, Dominion Voting Systems, as the sole vendor for all the needed gear. The transition is going to be expensive, especially for rural counties that haven’t seen the economic boom experienced across the Front Range. County officials argue forcing them to use one vendor — and not the cheapest — may violate the law and sane fiscal management.

Press Release: Clackamas County Pioneers New Voting Technology in Oregon | Hart Intercivic

Clackamas County is known for its pioneering spirit, an attitude born in the 1840s when the area was settled by the rugged travelers of the Oregon Trail. No surprise this trailblazing county’s election officials were the first in the State to adopt Verity Voting by Hart InterCivic, the most technologically advanced election system available in the U.S.

“We like to be first and we take pride in moving ahead,” said Sherry Hall, Clackamas County Clerk. “Choosing Verity was a natural choice to upgrade our older system. It’s a new technology that will serve our voters well for years to come.”

Clackamas County officials carefully scrutinized Verity before they embraced the new technology.

Press Release: Advanced Voting Technology Answer to Aging Equipment Crisis | Hart Intercivic

America’s aging voting machines increase the risk of Election Day problems, according to a recent report from the Brennan Center for Justice. However, rapidly changing election technology opens the door to voting systems that are more reliable, more usable and less expensive.

“Aging voting systems are a serious issue that must be proactively addressed,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic, referring to recent news stories about aging election systems based on the Center’s report.

“Failing systems are not Hart systems,” he emphasized. “We support all Hart technologies, and 94 percent of the jurisdictions we serve rank our customer service as excellent or above average.”

Virginia: State Moves Back to Paper Ballots for the Election | Newsplex

Charlottesville resident Paul Jacob has been rocking the vote since he was 18. He’s been voting for nearly 60 years now and he’s seen quite a few changes. “From marking X’s, to punching holes,” said Jacob. “To the computers.” At Tuesday’s election, he’ll see one more. The city registrars office is taking people back to the future when it comes to voting. Touch screens are now a thing of the past and paper is back in style. One reason for the change is because of problems with voting machines in previous years. Another reason is computer hacking. Hacks have occurred across the United States, including Washington, D.C. To prevent that, Rick Sincere from the Electoral Board says the Commonwealth is steering away from computer voting statewide.

Colorado: Eight counties to test new voting machines | Castle Rock News

Douglas County is one of eight counties that will be testing new voting machines this election season. The effort is part of an attempt by the Colorado secretary of state’s office to possibly unite all of the state under one system. As part of that initiative, four small counties and four large counties, including Douglas, were asked to pilot next-generation equipment. The other test counties are Adams, Denver, Garfield, Gilpin, Jefferson, Mesa and Teller. They will be trying out four different vendors. According to the secretary of state’s office, the upgrades to newer machines will cost about $10 million to $15 million and the counties will be dividing the cost, if the program moves forward following the test period. There is no charge to the counties during the test period.

Press Release: Matagorda County Updates Election Technology with Purchase of Hart InterCivic Solution | Hart InterCivic

Matagorda County, Texas has purchased a new voting system from Austin-based Hart InterCivic. With the addition of Matagorda County to its family of customers, Hart now provides state-of-the-art election solutions for 109 Texas counties as well as hundreds of additional jurisdictions across the U.S. “The Hart Voting System is the most secure, accurate and reliable system currently certified by the Texas Secretary of State,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic.

Press Release: Ramsey County Votes Yes for New Election Technology | Hart InterCivic

One of the largest voting jurisdictions in Minnesota is upgrading its election systems to the newest technology available. Ramsey County officials confirmed this week that Hart InterCivic’s new Verity® Voting system will replace their outdated voting software and hardware.
With nearly 300,000 voters during each election cycle, Ramsey County is the first Minnesota County to adopt the comprehensive Hart solution for managing the process of casting, counting, compiling and reporting votes in all state, federal and local elections. Home of the state capital, St. Paul, the County is a leader in the state’s election community and will be the nation’s largest user of Hart’s Verity system to date. “It’s nice to have a system that won’t soon be obsolete,” said Ramsey County Election Manager Joe Mansky.

Press Release: Idaho Certifies New Voting Technology for County Upgrades | Hart InterCivic

A streamlined and secure voting system is now available for use across the state of Idaho. The Secretary of State confirmed recently that Hart InterCivic’s Verity® Voting system passed rigorous testing and review and is certified for purchase by local Idaho jurisdictions. “This certification is a milestone for the voters of Idaho who deserve an easy-to-use and transparent voting experience. Counties are now free to make the Verity Voting system their top choice when they replace aging, perhaps unreliable, equipment,” said Phillip Braithwaite, President and CEO of Hart InterCivic.

Colorado: Williams changes election rules | Colorado Springs Independent

Secretary of State Wayne Williams is setting new ground rules for Colorado elections. “We are making careful preparations for the 2016 election cycle in order to ensure Colorado sets the standard for access and integrity,” Williams stated in a press release. The changes include the establishment of a Bipartisan Election Advisory Committee that will work to ensure that elections are accessible and fair. The new rules also aim to up security for third-party personal delivery of ballots and clarify the appointment of election watchers. Military members and civilians who are overseas have been allowed to turn in ballots electronically if the area they are in has unreliable mail service. Under the new rules, electronic voting will only be allowed if there is no other feasible way to get a ballot in on time, and the electronic voter will need to sign an affirmation stating that they understand that rule.

Press Release: New Verity Voting System Offers Increased Convenience for Chelan County | Hart InterCivic

Chelan County has become the first Washington county to adopt Hart InterCivic’s new Verity Voting system. Chelan has been a steadfast Hart customer since 2006. With the purchase of the Verity solution, the County will continue to receive consistent and efficient service from a solution provider they trust. Their new Verity system will provide improved usability and overall workflow.

Press Release: Washington State Elections Division Certifies Innovative New Voting Technology | Hart InterCivic

Upon completion of an extensive system evaluation by the Washington Secretary of State Elections Division, the Verity Voting system by Hart InterCivic has been certified for use in all Washington elections.That means that all jurisdictions in the state can now use Verity Voting’s scalable central scan solution for vote-by-mail ballots, and they can now offer voters with disabilities improved accessibility with the Verity Touch Writer ballot marking device. The Verity Voting system offers a completely new choice for all jurisdictions in the State looking to replace their end of life voting systems. Verity uses advanced voting technology to easily address all of Washington’s election needs, including built-in flexibility that can evolve with the States changing election requirements.

Press Release: Minnesota Secretary of State Certifies Innovative New Voting Technology | Hart InterCivic

Upon completion of an extensive system evaluation by the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office, the Verity Voting system by Hart InterCivic has been certified for use in all Minnesota elections. That means that all jurisdictions in the state can now use Verity Voting’s new paper ballot scanners and accessible ballot-marking devices for polling location use and a new high-speed, scalable central scan solution for processing absentee ballots. The Verity Voting system offers a completely new choice for all jurisdictions in the State looking to replace their aging voting systems. Verity uses advanced voting technology to easily address all of Minnesota’s election needs, including built-in accessibility features that grant equality of access for all voters.

Arkansas: Martin Picks Provider New State Voting Gear | Arkansas Online

Secretary of State Mark Martin has decided to purchase a statewide, integrated voting system, including new voting equipment, through a Nebraska-based company although its proposal costs millions more than systems offered by two other companies. The company, Elections Systems & Software (ES&S), submitted a proposal costing $29,928,868; California-based Unisyn Voting Solutions submitted $24,407,805; and Austin, Texas-based Hart InterCivic proposed $18,789,997, Martin spokesman Chris Powell said Monday. When it requested proposals from companies, Martin’s office said they couldn’t exceed $30 million. “The primary factor in the selection of ES&S was capabilities,” Powell said.

Press Release: Three More Virginia Jurisdictions Purchase Hart InterCivic’s Verity Voting System | Hart InterCivic

Hart InterCivic, a full service election solutions innovator and national leader in election technology, announced today that three more localities in the Commonwealth of Virginia have elected to purchase the Verity Voting system. Richmond, Henry and Essex Counties voted to purchase Verity, replacing their existing outdated voting equipment. These localities’ adoption of Verity follows on the heels of Prince William County, Virginia’s successful June 9, 2015 primary using the system. Verity in VA: Primary Election in Prince William County, VA Complete Success with Verity Voting System As in Prince William County, voters in Richmond, Henry and Essex Counties will scan their paper ballots using Verity Scan. Voters with disabilities may use the Verity Touch Writer ballot marking device with accessibility features to mark their ballots electronically before scanning them.

Press Release: Primary Election in Prince William County, VA Complete Success with Verity Voting System | Hart InterCivic

Hart InterCivic announced today that the Verity Voting system has performed exceptionally in the Prince William County, VA June primary election. The primary election was held on Tuesday, June 9, 2015 with polls open from 6 A.M. to 7 P.M. in 55 precincts and one Central Absentee Processing site across the county. Prince William County purchased the Verity Voting system in May of 2014, successfully piloting the system in the Dumfries Town Special Election in March of this year. The county completed State acceptance testing for Verity in just over two full days, using teams to help complete the detailed instructions for testing procedures. “Implementing Verity in Prince William County has truly been a milestone for Hart,” said Jessica McKay, Hart InterCivic Professional Services Project Manager, who was on site as part of the team helping to support the primary election. “The PWC staff was amazing and easy to work with; I could not imagine working with a better group of individuals to deliver an effective election.”