The following is a statement from Marian K. Schneider, president of Verified Voting about the new report from MIT and the University of Michigan, “Security Analysis of the Democracy Live Online Voting System”. For additional media inquiries, please contact Aurora Matthews, aurora@newheightscommunications.com
June 8, 2020 – “Computer scientists agree that electronic transmission of voted ballots — such as internet voting and mobile app voting — cannot be made secure. Sending voted material electronically elevates the risk of tampering with the elections to unacceptable levels.
“The new analysis of Democracy Live’s OmniBallot platform by MIT and University of Michigan confirms this conclusion. Even amidst a global pandemic, states simply cannot risk moving to internet voting. Absentee voting exists in every state and with proper preparations states should act quickly to expand absentee voting so that voting is safer for voters and poll workers alike. The Senate should take swift actions to approve additional emergency funding for elections to allow state and local election officials to make the necessary preparations for the November election so that all votes are counted as cast.
“As voting jurisdictions move to ramp up absentee voting by mail, voters with disabilities need an accessible option to participate in elections. Verified Voting and Common Cause recently published guidance for states selecting remote ballot marking systems for voters with disabilities to ensure that all voters have access to expanded vote by mail. As the researchers point out, safer configurations exist that allow voters with disabilities to use assistive features for marking a ballot and then printing and mailing it to the jurisdiction without sending information to remote servers that could compromise the system. We support those recommendations.”
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