We Should Replace Electronic Voting Machines With Paper Backup Machines

Last year, Russia targeted 21 states during the US election. Only one was breached into, but this still poses a threat to US election security. DRE machines are prone to hacking because they are connected to separate servers, and the information can be changed by hackers. OS machines have a paper backup to make sure this doesn’t happen.

There are many issues with US election security and having paper backup machines would solve those problems. It would be something that officials could check to make sure the vote is accurate and fair. DRE machines often have “errors” that cause the votes to be recounted. Even though changing the US voting machines will be expensive, The US needs to replace the current machines because it would improve US election security, keep US elections fair, and prevent hackers from taking advantage of the US election system. First, having paper backup machines would improve US election security. Using paper backup machines would prevent hacking because when counting the votes up, the OS machines would be able to verify the vote through the paper vote that the voter filled in.

This is another step that the hacker would have to go through to change the vote or delete it. Last year, Indiana received an "F" on election security, along with other states. Indiana is eligible for 7. 6 million to improve their election security but replacing all of Indiana’s DRE machines would cost around 22 million. (Groppe, 2018) Although replacing all of them would be impossible, Indiana should take small steps by replacing them little by little. Paper backup machines are very hard to hack into because they require the voter to write their vote down on a paper with a pencil. DRE (Direct Record Electronic) machines are very prone to hacking, and experts say that OS (Optical Scan) machines are better for election security. While improving US voting machines would keep US election security, it would also keep the vote fair.

Next, Paper backup machines would keep the vote fair. There have been multiple instances where DRE machines have had an "error", and as a result, the votes were wiped from the system. OS machines would fix this problem. A woman named Marilyn Marks was watching the Georgia election, and A man named Jon Ossoff was leading by 50. 3% when suddenly Fulton county’s (which is in Atlanta) precincts started going downhill. Suddenly all the computers crashed, and it was all blamed on a “rare error”. When the system came back up, Ossoff’s votes changed from 50. 3% to 48. 6% and he later lost. Marks didn’t really care for Ossoff, but what she did care for was the fairness of the vote. It wasn’t possible to audit the election because there were no paper backups. "errors" could change the way that elections go and make them different than they are. Georgia election officials constantly defend DRE machines, and Marks says, “They can get us to delegitimize our own democracy”.

OS machines would change this kind of situation and make it right. There is another story about a man named Logan Lamb who found that a Georgia subcontractor left confidential information on an open website for millions to see, which included millions of voter's license numbers, social security numbers, and voting histories. Anybody could have access to voter’s data, which is something hackers use to get into our voting systems. He told the Subcontractor of it and thought that it would be handled, but months later the information was still there. The subcontractor had to be told a second time for it to be taken down. A man named Brian Kemp was accused of wiping all the votes from that Georgia election, and when they went to investigate the voting information, the CES (Center for Election Systems) they wiped all the information that could have been valuable evidence. Then, when it went to federal court, they deleted the backup too. OS machines would change these kinds of incidents and more would be prevented if we just had OS machines instead of DRE machines. Not only would OS machines make the vote fairer, but they would make it harder to hack into the machinesFurthermore, Paper backup machines would also keep hackers from taking advantage of US voting systems. While hacking into the electronic machine itself would be highly difficult, hacking into the websites that program them would be a simple task for hackers.

At a hacking convocation in Las Vegas, Nevada, children were given simple instructions and they were able to hack into a website and destroy the infrastructure of it. With that said, many small businesses program the electronic voting machines and their systems aren’t as secure as other large businesses. Smaller businesses can’t afford the security they need to keep their systems secure and safe from hacking. Alex Halderman is an expert in knowing the Weaknesses in US voting machines, and he says that the only real solution to this problem is to issue paper ballot machines. “It would be more inexpensive than any other defense to hacking, and it would be manageable. ” Says Halderman. While there are many reasons supporting Paper backup machines, there are also reasons against it. Indiana has never been hacked into so why should we worry about it? This is a question that many people ask that has a simple answer. Although Indiana has never been hacked into, Indiana is still at a major risk of being hacked into. Indiana is one of 13 states without a paper ballot backup for all its voting machines. (Groppe, 2018) Only 60% of Indiana’s voting machines are OS machines.

Systems could be hacked into and hackers could change the programming of the DRE machines. The votes could be changed or deleted, and we wouldn’t know it. Going back to the “Error” that happened in Georgia, if something like that happened here, we would go through the same situation they did and recount all the votes. Even though Indiana has never been hacked into, paper backup machines are still the best option to prevent “errors” or hacking. In the end, replacing all the DRE voting machines would be expensive, but Indiana’s government could try to take steps little to replace the DRE machines. If Indiana replaced all the DRE machines we could have good election security, fair elections and it would prevent hackers from taking advantage of our voting system. If Indiana replaced all their OS machines, it could mean that our threat of being hacked into would go down, and it would be easy to fix errors by looking at the paper backup information. Indiana wouldn’t be one of few states to receive an “F”, and voters could trust the reliability of voting. If Indiana replaces all of Indiana’s DRE machines, election security and hacking would be a subject that citizens wouldn’t talk about much anymore.