Georgia House approves new electronic voting machines

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Ben Nadler, Associated Press Updated 10:35 pm CST, Tuesday, February 26, 2019

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia House lawmakers on Tuesday approved moving the state to new electronic touchscreen voting machines that print a paper ballot, a big step toward replacing the current outdated system that offers no verifiable paper trail.

But critics say the proposal disregards cybersecurity experts who widely believe that hand-marked paper ballots are the most secure option.

The bill passed by a 101-72 vote, largely along partisan lines with Republicans in support. It now heads to the Senate for consideration.

The proposal comes months after a highly contentious race for Georgia governor between Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, the winner. The election drew national attention and shook voter confidence after it was marred by issues including long voter lines, reports of malfunctioning voting machines, and high rates of rejected absentee ballots.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/us/article/Georgia-House-approves-new-electronic-voting-13646878.php

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The bill's author, Republican state Rep. Barry Fleming

[JaneQPublic]

1. Just as other states move away from touchscreens

My state --- Maryland ---- returned to paper ballots after ditching touchscreens for being hackable, expensive to service, and useless in a recount.

[Judi Lynn]

2. Great news. That was the right thing to do. Congrats. n/t

[Wounded Bear]

3. Paper printouts are a minor improvement...

but touchscreens are problematic. Funny how we have a million ATMs around the country that are 99.9% accurate and we can't make a reliable voting machine that isn't hackable by the 9th grader playing around in grandma's basement.



We do mail in, hand filled out ballots and just went postage paid to send them in. There are better ways.

[diva77]

4. Unfortunately, Ballot Marking Devices are not an improvement - same problem

of votes being non-verifiable exists, plus the usual electronic voting machine vulnerabilities such as undetectable installation of malicious code.

excerpt from article link in OP:

Georgia Tech computing professor Richard DeMillo testified last week that electronic ballot markers were hackable.

"What we're concerned with is that some unobservable piece of technology will get between the formation of an intention in the voter's mind and the indelible transfer of that intention to a piece of paper. That is where the hack occurs," DeMillo said. "A hand-marked paper ballot imposes no intermediate technology."

K&R for exposure

[truthisfreedom]

5. Follow the money. Exactly who owns this company?

Exactly who are the investors?

[keithbvadu2]

6. But printers were 'too expensive' to install on the machines.

But printers were 'too expensive' to install on the machines.

They should be a double printed carbon copy, not a single print.