Tweet

Susan Greenhalgh

13 Jul, 11 tweets, 5 min read

@EACgov

We sued the @EACgov bcz it held closed-door meetings w/voting system vendors, then quietly changed provisions in the federal voting system guidelines to let vendors include wireless networking devices in federally certified voting machines. Sound crazy? It is. THREAD 1/

https://twitter.com/SEGreenhalgh/status/1414995974213226506

@eacgov

Especially because, years ago, the @eacgov chair testified to the senate, wrongly, that federal voluntary voting system guidelines (VVSG) DO BAN internet connectivity. They didn't in 2019, but this showed that EAC recognized the PR value. 2/
See at 3:30.

@Public_Citizen

From 2015-2020 EAC was actively developing new VVSG, VVSG 2.0, and there was a huge push from the computer security community and the public to ban all devices that may be capable of connecting to the internet in voting machines. @Public_Citizen 3/ citizen.org/news/advocates…

@EACgov

But the @EACgov wouldn't give those comments its own Technical Guidelines Development Committee, when the committee members asked. 4/
citizen.org/wp-content/upl…

Nevertheless, the scientific facts were so persuasive, the new voting system guidelines, were initially drafted with a strict ban on wireless networking devices. 5/ politico.com/news/2019/10/3…

@EACgov

But after the guidelines were drafted, the @EACgov began meeting behind closed doors, without even public notification, with the voting machine vendors. This is a no-no according to the Federal Advisory Committee Act. 6/

News started to leak out that the guidelines were being re-written to allow wireless devices. Computer security experts tried to persuade the EAC not to make this terrible, terrible change. 7/ politico.com/news/2021/02/0…

8/ apnews.com/article/busine…

But EAC brazenly ignored the science and the law. They published new guidelines that were significantly weakened to allow wireless and limit transparency to benefit the vendors, less than 2 weeks before they voted, w/no public comment or transparency.9/ washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/…

@EACgov

Can you say "agency capture?"
In the meantime, we had tried to FOIA for the documents regarding the private meetings with vendors, but the @EACgov would not produce anything for 9 months so we sued. 10/ dailykos.com/stories/2021/4…

And now, we have sued under federal laws that exist to ensure there is transparency, accountability and public oversight of federal agencies that EAC seemed to think it could ignore. We beg to differ. apnews.com/article/busine…

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More from @SEGreenhalgh

Susan Greenhalgh

@SEGreenhalgh

27 Oct 20

I'd just like to clear up some misinformation here for the record - the claim that voting machines cannot be hacked because they are never connected to the internet is FALSE.

This is often accompanied by another claim from states that use wireless modems, who insist that...1/

@WI_Elections

...the wireless modems don't connect to the internet. This is also FALSE.

The @WI_Elections has made claims that its voting machines don't connect to the internet but this is FALSE because WI has jurisdictions that use modems to send unofficial election results back to...2/

@NIST

...headquarters. This operation means that BOTH ends of the connection- the voting machine and the county election management system - are connected to the internet and exposed to internet based attacks. This is established unequivocally by the @NIST who said use of modems...3/

Read 11 tweets

Susan Greenhalgh

@SEGreenhalgh

13 Oct 20

This👇 This is the problem with most states’ post election audits - they are not structured or implemented to serve as a check, or allow for a correction, of a possible incorrect election result. When VA’s legislature was writing this bill, lawmakers...1/ wusa9.com/article/news/p…

...tried to write the bill to conduct the audit before the election is certified, so that if the audit uncovered miscounted ballots, ballots could be recounted and the election corrected. Local election officials opposed these provisions. Why?Because election officials have ...2/

...been misinformed about the risk to election systems. Specifically, they have been told vote tallies can’t be corrupted because “voting machines aren’t connected to the internet” so these audits are viewed as a needless burden, not as an important security safeguard. This...3/

Read 4 tweets

Susan Greenhalgh

@SEGreenhalgh

7 Oct 20

@GaSecofState

🚨This! What is going on in GA is deeply disturbing. The @GaSecofState's foolish choice to force GA to continue to vote on touchscreen machines (even if they print a barcode ballot) is imploding every min as more problems w/the machines crop up & the SOS tries to cover up...1/

@dominionvoting

...the defects in this janky system. Just a few weeks ago we found out the ballot was not displaying all the candidates in the special senate race, mere weeks before the election. The state tried to downplay the problem, saying the vendor @dominionvoting only needed to...2/

@EACgov

...update the software in all 34k voting machines in GA(!) NBD. They then told the federal court that it was only a minor change,"de minimus" & that Dominion had already submitted it to the @EACgov for them to approve the tiny change & give it rubber stamp approval w/minimal...3/

Read 7 tweets

Susan Greenhalgh

@SEGreenhalgh

28 Sep 20

This morning the Court held an emergency proceeding bcz of this & other errors that have been found w/GA’s voting machines. The bomb that was dropped is that this is not a database problem but a software issue that will require REINSTALLING new code... ajc.com/politics/error…

...to 80k pieces of equipment. This updated software is meant to fix the errors discovered, but it will not be tested to be sure that it doesn’t introduce new errors or security issues. The state is just installing new untested software in every machine. Early voting starts...2/

...in a few weeks. This is reckless at best and illegal at worst. The state tried to play this down as NBD but it is extremely serious. GA state law does not allow software changes unless the state has first reviewed documentation that shows the changes will not change the ...3/

Read 4 tweets

Susan Greenhalgh

@SEGreenhalgh

9 Sep 20

“Russians had placed malware in the election registration systems of at least 2 Florida counties, St. Lucie and Washington.” The malware could delete voters from specific districts.
We can't slow walk a response to this nat'l security threat any longer! 1/
miamiherald.com/news/politics-…

It's 4 years since we've learned that Russian hackers were trying to hack into our election infrastructure, but the response has been shockingly & embarrassingly weak. We've passed no federal reforms to set minimum security standards for elections systems. Some states still...2/

can't audit their elections, and most others don't bother. Some states still allow wireless modems that directly connect voting systems to the internet (even though you've been lied to and told they don't connect). This is in large part because there's been strong pushback ...3/

Read 6 tweets

Susan Greenhalgh

@SEGreenhalgh

13 Aug 20

@fsfp

We @fsfp sent evidence to the @EACgov demonstrating that @essvote was falsely claiming its voting machines with wireless modems were federally certified. The EAC agreed & ordered ES&S to write to its customers admitting the systems aren't certified. 1/ politi.co/323C5Gb

This is a rare action that's welcome but overdue. The voting machine vendors operate with little to no oversight or regulation & that has enabled a culture of duplicity. Recently the EAC had to take the unusual step to publicly disavow similarly false claims by other vendors. 2/