News & Insights
We’re Making History in Real Time.
Our timely insights share informed perspectives on the rapidly evolving story of Election Technology, as it unfolds.
Mistakes Are Not Malfeasance – It’s Important to Know the Difference
Protecting democracy means that it’s essential to properly distinguish between “honest mistakes” and more nefarious conditions that could impact election outcomes. Particularly given the speed at which information travels through social media, if voters and the media are not circumspect, they may unwittingly spread mis- or disinformation. Here are some tips to consider…
Manufactured Chaos
With the start of voting in the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election quickly approaching, we can expect the level of “noise” about elections to reach a fever pitch in the sprint after Labor Day. Energized by the former president’s lies about the outcome of the 2020 election, election deniers are sowing doubt about the legitimacy of elections through mis- and disinformation across multiple platforms. It’s not a pretty picture for democracy.….
Nothing ‘Authentix’ About It
Recently, the Washington Post ran an article about a new initiative surfacing in at least four states in effort to improve election integrity by making anti-counterfeit ballots. This is a solution in search of a problem that is a waste of taxpayer dollars. We explain why…
Sham Audits are Bad for America
The post-election sham underway in Maricopa County, Arizona should concern every American. Whether you're an avid or casual observer of this un-serious, circus-like event, it's a harbinger of grave threats to democracy that could spread farther.
The Basics About the Walled City of Election Administration
Our readers and followers may recall this tweet thread we posted in late November about where votes are counted and stored and how exactly basic voting systems function. The Trump Administration’s persistence of a false narrative about election rigging (“stop the steal”) shows no sign of letting up in the waning days of his presidency. So, it’s time to debunk these claims with an easier to follow explanation (a fact-based narrative) rather than continuing a whac-a-mole approach of pointing out each of the many falsehoods as they pop up, and individually responding. So, OSET Institute co-founders John Sebes & Gregory Miller offer a simple article about what is actually true…
Election 2020: The Most Secure Ever...
Recently, we read Eric Tucker’s and Frank Bajak’s article about the assessment that this election was " the most secure" in American history. (The statement is captured here if the current Administration has removed it). However, we must not believe that “the most secure election” means that there is no further need for government funding or innovation in the existing election technology infrastructure, or that we can just let the status quo remain. We cannot…
House Hearing on Election Security Broaches Supply Chain Issues
The Committee on House Administration, the committee with oversight responsibility for matters relating to federal elections, is holding a hearing today entitled “2020 Election Security: Perspectives from Voting System Vendors and Experts.” The CEOs of the three voting machine makers (Election Systems & Software, Hart InterCivic, Dominion Voting Systems) are providing written testimonies, two of which include statements about supply chain risk. Supply chain risk management is a timely topic.
The Case for Mobile App Voting: Can We Know the Risks to the Whole Election?
In a recent InformationWeek Dark Reading article, Kelly Jackson Higgins asks whether Internet voting by mobile app is better than other forms of Internet voting, based on better security. Rewinding to the beginning of this series: my response is, “No, App based mobile voting isn’t preferable to other forms based on security.” However, it might be preferable to other methods based on voter convenience, but there are many other factors...
National Security and “Federal Control” of Elections
Previously, our CTO, John Sebes tried to unpack the regrettable misunderstanding that current attempts to strength U.S. elections nationwide are some form of Federal hijack of states’ responsibilities for elections. And of course, he is not our corporate lawyer or anyone in Legal trying to sort this out. But from a layperson’s view (at least to Constitutional law and all) this doesn’t seem overly complicated to John, and so here’s his view....
Straight Talk About Election Security Plain Talk
On June 21st the House Administration Committee held a Markup Session for HR 2722 the SAFE Act. We monitor as much of these proceedings as we can. And this one in particular compelled our CTO John Sebes to not only produce a Paper clarifying or correcting several assertions made by a House Member during that proceeding, but also led to a 7-part “plain talk” series on election security posted on our TrustTheVote Project blog. In this post here, John explains why…
Microsoft Wades into Election Integrity & Security with New Open Source Software Tools
The primary short-term significance of the Microsoft announcement about ElectionGuard (similar to the recent DARPA SSITH open source trusted hardware project) is validation of a major point about election cyber-security that just wasn’t part of the national conversation a couple years ago: Major technology innovation is required to increase the verifiability, accuracy, and security of elections technology and (at least) U.S. elections. That’s probably just as important as the prospect that ElectionGuard might be included in future proprietary voting system products, or in open-source election technology offerings from OSET Institute’s TrustTheVote Project or others….
New Cybersecurity Threats Require New Thinking on Testing and Certification
Ms. Voting Matters offers a summation of internal leadership discussion on the imperative topic of evolving election technology security; a longer article, but we think worth the read.
On an almost daily basis, there is mounting evidence that the scope of “election security” is wider than might appear at first blush. While much attention has been paid to “voting machines” and “voting systems” that capture and tabulate votes, there is growing awareness that other types of election-related software infrastructure are even more vulnerable by virtue of being network-connected: specifically, voter registration (VR) systems and Election Night Reporting (ENR) systems (which display results over the web, but which do not tabulate votes) have been found to be especially vulnerable. The question is how can cybersecurity testing and certification adapt?
Examining the Georgia State Voting System Cost Projection
The OSET Institute closely follows all developments in election technology infrastructure, because it’s essential to the defense of democracy. Lately, one topic that has garnered more public attention is the process by which state and local jurisdictions assess, select, and procure voting technology. One in particular, Georgia, has garnered much attention, and rightly so. There are some very unusual cost justifications underway; and the math is not adding up. Not. Even. Close. The OSET Institute took a measured examination of what the costing should really look like. Something is not right in Georgia.
Are There Cyberterrorist Threats to Elections?
On the same day H.R.1 was introduced by Sarbanes, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX-18) introduced H.R.52 – SAFETI Act - the Security for the Administration of Federal Election from Terrorists Intervention Act of 2019. Unlike H.R.1, H.R.52 is short — just two pages …but what it calls for was enough to get our attention about an aspect not previously focused on…
Thinking and Acting Locally for the Nation’s Sake— A Strategy for Improving Election Security
This is the first of a two-part article by our Associate General Counsel and Director for International Development, Joy London, that considers a local, state-based strategy for improving the nation’s election security rather than purely a top-down federal approach.
A 116th Opportunity: New Congress to Offer Ambitious Election Reform Bill to Defend Democracy
We’ve said it many times and it bears worth repeating: foreign interference in U.S. elections is a threat to our democracy. The security of critical election infrastructure is the focal point of the OSET Institute’s mission. So, OSET leadership was pleased to learn that on January 3, 2019, the opening day of the 116th session of Congress, the newly elected House Democratic majority, led by Speaker-designate Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA-12), will have its first order of legislative business—House Resolution #1 (“H.R.1”), a comprehensive election reform bill. The question is will H.R.1 become law, and be the change-agent needed to better defend democracy?
Will Foreign Adversaries Attack U.S. Midterm Elections or Elsewhere?
Most experts believe that Russia through the GRU, the intelligence arm of Russia's armed forces, will continue to interfere in U.S. elections on some level(s). Others are raising concerns about China and even Iran. There are many prognostications, but before commenting on any one theory, let’s review the multiple paths a malicious actor could use to compromise the 2018 American Midterms and upcoming elections in Europe…..
New Securing the Voting Report Details Settled Consensus Except for One Major Point
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) new Report on election security released last Thursday among other things, verifies a settled consensus: a shift to all-paper-ballot elections coupled with Risk Limiting Audits. While the report makes several sound proposals, it has a significant blind spot…..
The Race to Secure Our Elections: Are We Ready for November?
In my last article I highlighted the most important advancements in election security. This post examines the next logical steps: Is all this progress enough, and will our upcoming elections be more resistant to disruption than they were in 2016? The answer is: "Yes, but not as much as we had hoped…"
The Race to Secure our Elections: How Far Have we Come?
This article is the 1st of a two-part series on the state of America’s election infrastructure security with less than 4-months left to 2018 midterm election. Here I discuss the current situation and progress, and in the next post I will evaluate preparedness for the upcoming midterm in 110 days…