COMMITTEE SENSITIVE—RUSSIA INVESTIGATION ONLY
Cybersecurity experts have studied a wide range of U.S. voting machines—including both DREs and optical scanners—and in every single case, they've found severe vulnerabilities that would allow attackers to sabotage machines and to alter votes. That's why there is overwhelming consensus in the cybersecurity and election integrity research communities that our elections are at risk.[1]
(U) In speaking with the Committee, federal government officials revealed concerns about the security of voting machines and related infrastructure. Former Assistant Attorney General for National Security John Carlin told the Committee:
"I'm very concerned about … our actual voting apparatus, and the attendant structures around it, and the cooperation between some states and the federal government."[2] Mr. Carlin further stated, "We've literally seen it already, so shame on us if we can't fix it heading into the next election cycles. And it's the assessment of every key intel professional, which I share, that Russia's going to do it again because they think this was successful. So we're in a bit of a race against time heading up to the two-year election. Some of the election machinery that's in place should not be.[3]
(U) Mr. McCabe echoed these concerns, and noted that, in the last months before the election, FBI identified holes in the security of election machines, saying "there's some potential there."[4]
(U) As of November 2016, five states were using exclusively DRE voting machines with no paper trail, according to open source information.[5] An additional nine states used at least some DRE voting machines with no paper trail.[6]
- (U) State 20 has 21-year-old DRE machines. While the state is in the process of replacing its entire voting system, including these machines, State 20 is aiming to have the updates ready for the 2020 elections.
- (U) In State 21, 50 of 67 counties as of November 2017 used DRE voting machines.[7]
- ↑ (U) SSCI Transcript of the Open Hearing on Russian Interference in the 2016 U.S. Elections, held on Wednesday, June 21, 2017, pp. 116-117.
- ↑ (U) SSCI Transcript of the Interview with John Carlin, Former Assistant Attorney General for National Security, held on Monday, September 25, 2017, p. 86.
- ↑ (U) Ibid., pp. 86-87.
- ↑ (U) DTS 2018-2152, SSCI Interview with Andrew McCabe, Former Deputy Director of the FBI, February 14, 2018, p. 221.
- ↑ (U) BallotPedia, Voting Methods and Equipment By State, https://ballotpedia.org/Voting_methods_and_equipment_by_state.
- ↑ (U) Ibid.
- ↑ (U) Memorandum for the Record, SSCI Staff, Conference Call with [State 21], November 17, 2017.
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COMMITTEE SENSITIVE—RUSSIA INVESTIGATION ONLY
