ATLANTA (AP) — Voting machines were at the center of a web of conspiracy theories after the 2020 election, with false claims that they were manipulated to steal the presidency from Donald Trump.
There was no evidence of widespread fraud or rigged voting machines in the election, and multiple assessments in battleground states where the Republican president contested his loss to Democrat Joe Biden confirmed the results were accurate. In 2023, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems, one of the largest voting machine companies, $787 million to avoid a defamation lawsuit.
In the years since his loss, Trump and his allies have continued to cast doubt on the voting equipment. State and local election officials have tried to push back by explaining the layers of protection surrounding voting systems and the measures they have taken to administer fair and accurate elections.
In November’s presidential election, almost every ballot will have a paper record that can be used to obtain an accurate count, even if there are errors or cyberattacks.
What is a voting machine?
Election officials rely on different types of technology. Every office does things a little differently.
Officials rely on a voter registration system, which is a database of registered voters, and have an election management system that employees use to create, issue and track ballots. They also use an election night reporting system that reports unofficial results. Many jurisdictions use electronic poll books to check voters in at polling places.
All of this relies on software and computers, a dependency that poses risks that officials are trying to identify and address. For example, election officials often isolate critical systems from the Internet and use storage devices, such as secure USB drives, to transfer data. They limit access to sensitive equipment to only those who need it and have logs that track and monitor the devices.
When an Internet connection is necessary, election officials will often use private networks to limit the risk of malicious activity and take other steps to scan their systems for potential vulnerabilities and threats.
Voters in much of the country fill out ballots by hand, after which that ballot is scanned and counted electronically. A few places, mainly small towns in the Northeast, will count their ballots by hand.
In some areas, voters use a computer to electronically mark their ballots and then receive a printout of their choices that they place in a scanner for counting. In other cases, the ballot is cast electronically and a paper report is printed summarizing the votes cast. That record is then available if a hand count is needed.
Are voting machines connected to the internet?
With a few exceptions: no. There are some jurisdictions in a few states where ballot scanners at polling places can transmit unofficial results over a private mobile network after voting has ended on Election Day and the memory cards containing the vote tallies have been removed.
Election officials who allow this say it allows for faster reporting of unofficial election results on election night. They say paper records of ballots cast are used to authenticate results during post-election reviews, and that those documents would be crucial for a recount if one were needed.
Computer security experts have said this is an unnecessary risk and should be banned.
Are voting machines safe?
Election officials say they have worked extensively to strengthen security around their voting equipment, following an attempt by Russia to scan state voter registration systems for vulnerabilities in 2016.
There was no evidence at the time that any data had been altered or deleted, but it prompted the federal government to declare the nation’s election systems critical infrastructure. This allows the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency to offer free cybersecurity assessments and vulnerability testing to election offices across the country.
“Today, eight years later, thanks to all the incredible work of election officials to strengthen the security and resilience of our election process, the election infrastructure has never been more secure, and the community of election stakeholders has never been stronger,” said the director of the agency. Jen Easterly, told reporters in September.
Computer security experts have called for more efforts and to limit the use of certain technology, especially machines that mark ballots for voters. A long-running lawsuit in Georgia has tried to force the state to abolish these machines in favor of hand-marked paper ballots.
Experts have also expressed particular concern about a series of security breaches that occurred after the 2020 election, when Trump allies sought access to voting systems in Georgia and elsewhere while trying to prove their baseless claims. The experts have warned that the public release of crucial election software as a result of the breaches has led to “serious threats” and have called for a federal investigation.
How do election officials ensure accuracy?
Election officials say safeguards are in place to ensure voting systems are not manipulated. That starts with physical security, such as locked areas with limited access and the use of tamper-evident seals. In addition, the voting equipment is tested before the election, a process that includes test voting by the equipment to ensure that votes are counted correctly.
Post-election reviews are conducted to identify any errors or mistakes.
About 98% of all votes cast in this year’s election will include a paper ballot, according to a report from the Brennan Center for Justice, based on data collected by Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group that tracks voting equipment in the US. Officials say this is important to ensure that any errors or cyberattacks do not prevent officials from providing an accurate account of the vote.
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Learn more about how U.S. elections work in Explore Election 2024, a series from The Associated Press aimed at helping you understand American democracy. The AP receives support from several private foundations to improve its explanatory reporting on elections and democracy. See more about AP’s democracy initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
