The 2020 election is still surrounded by a lot of controversy and accusations of fraud. Many Trump supporters still believe it was stolen by voter fraud, irregular counting, and voting machine operations.
There are currently investigations going on in Georgia, Michigan, and Colorado about incursions into data integrity in various election locations.
Now, concerns are growing about the upcoming midterms, specifically about how secure voting machine systems will be in these midterms.
Worsening Worries
Elections are always a focal point for foreign intelligence services and assets, particularly in the cyber division. This is something voting systems are already prepared for and work to harden themselves against.
However, concerns are growing that people working the elections or with access to machines could actually tamper with them intentionally to swing the results, throwing the elections into question.
Establishment experts have been spreading fear that Trump supporters with real access who are working elections could do this, but a quick look at the polls shows the left has just as much incentive.
The chance of a rebellious Clinton supporter or hater of DeSantis or Trump finding a way to push down a red wave in these midterms remains very much real, particularly in purple states where a Democratic win could be believable and able to be passed off as real.
On the even subtler side, deep fake videos could also be used near or shortly after the day of the midterms to make realistic-looking footage of tampering with machines and throw results into question.
These are all problems that election officials are considering as they work to secure the midterms, while still making voting fast and easy as possible.
Deepfakes generate concern about their potential to interfere with the democratic process, writes @JesseDamiani.
But a more lightweight form of synthetic media is already influencing political realities:https://t.co/PLaDvhh603
— NBC News THINK (@NBCNewsTHINK) September 12, 2022
What About Going Back To Doing It By Hand?
Some have suggested going back to marking ballots by hand and counting them by hand. Sometimes making everything modern ends up being a step back, after all.
However, this would be a very costly process. It would still have a huge potential for fraud with people hiding votes or otherwise interfering in the process.
With the recent news that Mike Lindell got a subpoena for his phone over his claims of Dominion voting machine fraud, this issue is becoming more and more pressing.
Dominion is important because they’re dominant. Their machines are present in more than half of the states; they’ve already had various attempts to hack and redistribute votes on their systems.
Lindell has promised to try to get Dominion booted out of being used in the US, saying they are fraudulent and insecure.
Y’all want to know why Mike Lindell is getting bullied by Joe Biden’s FBI. It’s simple really, he’s UltraMAGA and he won the lawsuit against dominion which shows that there WAS fraud and corruption in the election. https://t.co/T676J6hwF7
— BullEagle (@Savage76Patriot) September 14, 2022
The Bottom Line
The mainstream media and Democrats continue to insist that Dominion and other systems are mainly under threat from conservatives themselves.
Is there a better way to do elections that would be more secure? What do readers think about this issue?
This article appeared in StatesmanPost and has been published here with permission.
