Marian K. Schneider: “Passing the bipartisan Security Elections Act will advance our nation’s efforts to protect and ensure trustworthy elections.”
The following is a statement from Marian K. Schneider, president of Verified Voting, regarding the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) summit held today in Washington, D.C. For additional media inquires, please contact aurora@newheightscommunications.com
“As officials look to address the risks our elections face today, it is essential that voter-verified paper ballots and post-election audits are recognized as the best way – given current technology – to ensure that an attack on our voting systems can be detected and the outcome verified. With midterm elections quickly approaching, it’s time we also prepare to monitor, detect, respond and recover from these potential attacks. The good news is that we can, and Congress has a bill that goes a long way in doing so.
“The bipartisan Secure Elections Act, introduced late last month by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) and co-sponsored by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Sen, Susan Collins (R-ME) and Sen. Martin Heinrich, (D-NM), aims to provide states with the resources needed to implement these safeguards.
“By making federal funds available to states that need them – and by sharing federal expertise and threat information – states will be able to replace aging, insecure voting equipment and implement modern security best practice, which includes using voter-marked paper ballots and robust post-election audits.
“Our voting systems are computers and like all computers they can be hacked. We applaud the measures election officials have taken to improve their cyber hygiene practices and security profiles of these systems, but these safeguards alone can’t ensure the integrity of our elections. Even the most fortified systems have been breached by hackers.
“But we can protect our elections from cyber tampering by ensuring all voters cast their votes on paper ballots that can’t be altered by a cyber attack. Voter-marked paper ballots that are optically scanned can be used to to verify the electronic tally through a post-election audit. We know this solution assures resilience against attacks on our election systems.
“This federal legislation is a crucial first step. Passing the bipartisan Security Elections Act will advance our nation’s efforts to protect and ensure trustworthy elections.”