What I learned from working the polls (Nov. 2021)

I worked in my SW Ohio county as a "Recording Judge" for the recent election.  This was my first time every volunteering to work the polls.  A Recording Judge is responsible for logging the name and ballot number of every voter in an official book.  (That happens AFTER the voter's ID has been verified.)  As I observed the process, I was satisfied that the IDs were being checked, and the rest was very easy.

I took note of the manufacturer and model number of the voting machine.  It was a DS200, made by ES&S (Election Systems and Software).  I asked some of the experienced poll workers whether this machine was capable of connecting to the internet.  I was told it was not.  (That was false, but it's possible they had been told that and honestly didn't know any better.)

At the end of the day, we look at the number of people who voted according to the Recorder's book, and compare that to the number of ballots the machine shows it processed.  The numbers should match, and they did.

So I got started thinking... wondering how election fraud happens.  (I don't call it "voter fraud", because I think in most cases this isn't the voters doing something wrong... it's someone higher up manipulating the system.)

According to Rudy Giuliani, there are at least 5 methods of fraudulent voting that occurred in the 2020 election.  (I believe Rudy... if you've never read about his background, you should.  The man knows his business and he's very sharp.)

So I did some research on the DS200.  Turns out it IS capable of connecting to the internet via wi-fi.  And that connection may not show up when you check your phone for nearby networks, because it can be hidden.  Conclusion - this IS a hackable voting machine.  I checked some other machines people asked me about (Dominion ones) and it was the same situation.

Aside from hacking, what else could happen with those machines.  Well, there's a reason the company has "software" in its name.  Somebody please tell me why a voting machine NEEDS software.  An optical scanner... maybe.  Software?  That suggests programming. 

I remember seeing a video of a computer programmer guy a few years ago explaining how EASY it wouled be to program:
1) votes for one candidate to be switched to another, or
2) votes to be "weighted"... Candidate A gets their votes weighted by a factor of 0.8 instead of one full vote, and Candidate B gets votes weighted by a factor of 1.2 instead of 1.
Candidate A could actually get more votes, but Candidate B could (appear to) win.

Obviously, this is a huge potential problem.  And maybe not just "potential".

Do I think the 2021 election was hacked or altered?  I have no reason to think so.  Results were mostly expected, at least in my area.  But the point is, the machines COULD be hacked.  (The 2020 election / coup d'état is a different matter.)

I found out some more interesting information in my research on voting machines, but I'll include that in a separate post.

Bottom line:  We need to go back to "paper ballots, hand counted" and stop using machines.  That would also save Ohio MILLIONS of dollars that they pay out for these cheating machines.