The most senior Senate Democrats responsible for security and intelligence ask Dominion CEO John Poulos and the heads of two other firms why they continue to sell electronic voting systems with known vulnerabilities. Those three firms, Dominion, ES&S, and Hart InterCivic, provide voting systems to 92 percent of American voters.
Highlights from the letter, with emphasis added:
- “We write to request information about the security of the voting systems your companies manufacture and service.”
- “The integrity of our elections remains under serious threat. Our nation’s intelligence agencies continue to raise the alarm that foreign adversaries are actively trying to undermine our system of democracy, and will target the 2020 elections as they did the 2016 and 2018 elections.”
- “Of particular concern is the fact that many of the machines that Americans use to vote have not been meaningfully updated in nearly two decades. Although each of your companies has a combination of older legacy machines and newer systems, vulnerabilities in each present a problem for the security of our democracy and they must be addressed.”
- There is no “excuse for the fact that our voting equipment has not kept pace both with technological innovation and mounting cyber threats.”
- “There is a consensus among cybersecurity experts regarding the fact that voter-verifiable paper ballots and the ability to conduct a reliable audit are basic necessities for a reliable voting system. Despite this, each of your companies continues to produce some machines without paper ballots.”
- “The fact that you continue to manufacture and sell outdated products is a sign that the marketplace for election equipment is broken.”
- “These issues combined with the technical vulnerabilities facing our election machines explain why the Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is reportedly working to develop an open source voting machine that would be secure and allow people to ensure their votes were tallied correctly.”
- “This market concentration [i.e. the fact that Hart InterCivic, ES&S, and Dominion dominate 92 percent of the electorate] is one factor among many that could be contributing to the lack of innovation in election equipment.”
- “The integrity of our elections is directly tied to the machines we vote on – the products that you make. Despite shouldering such a massive responsibility, there has been a lack of meaningful innovation in the election vendor industry and our democracy is paying the price.”
The senators request that each of the companies answer 16 specific questions.
The signers of the letter are:
- Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ranking Member, Senate Rules Committee with oversight of federal elections;
- Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), Ranking Member, Senate Select Committee on Intelligence;
- Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Armed Services;
- Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member, Senate Committee on Homeland Security.
The senators wrote the letter to Hart InterCivic President and CEO Phillip Braithwaite, ES&S President and CEO Tom Burt, and John Poulos, President and CEO of Dominion Voting Systems.
Source:
1.https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/news-releases
1. If the Senate recognizes that there are known vulnerabilities in election systems, why have they rejected bills like “SAFE” and “SHIELD” that sought disclosure of voting machine vendor software and hardware?
2. If the integrity of elections is under threat, why don’t security agencies implement rigorous measures to prevent data breaches and directly monitor companies?
3. Does this mean that 92% of the U.S electoral market may be threatened by the influence of foreign adversaries due to security vulnerabilities of the voting systems companies?
4. What actions has the government taken since 2019 in response to the alarms raised by our nation’s intelligence services and some members of U.S. Congress to protect the integrity of our electoral system and our democracy?
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