This document was sent to jurisdictions regarding FOIA requests outlining what ES&S records and reports are allowed to be released.
Above is a PDF Document from ES&S Just released that was their communication to the jurisdictions using their software and systems. They broke down what can be freely released in FOIA requests. Any reports that the precincts and counties would print as part of the election they say can be FOIA’d and they have no objection to. What they do object to is the server system logs. They state they may divulge security or proprietary information.
Now for my input… I’ve been a server administrator for around 30 years and have looked at tons of logs. Error logs show what is broken, security logs show failed login attempts, and who failed to login (user ID would be shown), they don’t show passwords. What they do show are IP and web addresses, They also show paths and files that may be corrupt or missing. I can’t really understand why they feel the logs would show anything proprietary…unless it’s IP addresses or servers that it talks to are ON the internet. The systems are supposed to be isolated from tampering and NOT on the internet. If they need to communicate with maybe a network ballot scanner or a network printer, then I get that, but they should be on a private network, illustrated below.
Above I’ve illustrated what private IP address ranges look like. These addresses are reserved for private use only and DO NOT EXIST ON THE INTERNET. Class “A” are the 10.0.0.0 that most large corporations would use. Class “B” are the 172.16.0.0 that are used in small to large businesses. Then there is the Class “C” 192.168.0.0 addresses that most homes use.
If these Election Systems need network connections, then they should NEVER have a gateway address assigned. On your home network, the gateway is the connection to your router and the IP address assigned to the router. Usually 192.168.x.1 or 192.168.x.254. The “x” can be any number from 0-254, but usually “0” or “1”. This is the key to making your private network talk to the internet.
So, back to the Server logs, I want to see them. You show me a bunch of private addresses talking, I wouldn’t be too suspect, but if I were to see IP addresses talking to the internet, during times and dates of an election, then yes, I would question why it’s talking to the internet and to whom??
The systems are supposed to be setup, accuracy tests are run, certified when correct results obtained, then sealed until the election.
We had our election in a church. Once setup, machines are left in a large room, probably the banquet hall, and only locked at the outside door. So anyone with a key to the church could potentially have access.
Paper ballots could be driven from the county office each day by the clerks to each precinct. Actual poll books can be used again, printed 30 days before the election. If you’re not in the book, you don’t vote. One day voting, at the precinct level is manageable, you can always make more precincts. After the polls close, tally the votes on legal forms, copy them for the window posting, and the clerk takes them back to the county office in a sealed case for archiving. I would suggest that each poll manager gets a copy of results as a tool to validate the results of the polling location. A way to match what 10 people agreed to at the poll and what is recorded at the county (More Eyes).
Now… the Document is only 3 pages, but it concerns me that elections are supposed to be FREE to US citizens, FAIR for US citizens to access the all legal methods for voting, and… once the vote is cast, TRANSPARENT to all. But they are cast on machines that keep secrets under the guise of “Proprietary Software” and “Trade Secrets”… “TRADE SECRETS”, why are we using machines that we can’t see how they work. Voting uses simple math, paper ballots and a calculator could do what they do, why such a complex system??
I voted early in the 2020 election, stood in line at the early voting center on 10/29/2020 for 2 hours during tropical storm Zeta that was going on then, when I got to the door, they closed the voting center stating they lost power to the machines?? I still saw the lights in the building were on, and if they had paper ballots, I could have voted. They didn’t have backup ballots, so we had to go to the next voting center, wait 2 more hours, and then voted. At this point, I was no longer a fan of the machines. Machines are only as good as the people that program them, and the people that run them. Then I question is everyone went to the second location, or just gave up and went home?
I’m a poll manager, I can see how they provide a service, and how it’s so easy to let machines do all the work, but I also see that at the precinct level, it’s entirely feasible for hand cast paper ballots. We had 10 poll managers and a clerk at our poll, that would have been entirely manageable to count paper ballots, ~150 ballots each would be no problem. Machines and Algorithms are not the friends to your freedom and voting rights. Instead of the people controlling the counting… A room full of programmers can control the politics of a nation… let that sink in!
This piece is based on 3 years of experience trying to peek behind the curtain to obtain facts about how our elections are conducted. Friends have tried FOIA’s and have been told they don’t have or can’t have any proof that our elections are being run in an open and transparent matter. We can have reports that the election server generates, and if you can take a picture of the tape printed out at each precinct, that is about as close to transparent as they will allow. If you want to see the numbers, they will refer you to the scvotes.gov, that silently forwards you to SCYTL to see the reports.
(https://www.enr-scvotes.org/SC/106502/Web02-state.277845/#/?undefined will send you to the same page here
https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/SC/106502/Web02-state.277845/#/?undefined ).
South Carolina only operates the machines, that hide how they count the vote, with no ability to actually confirm/audit the vote from the physical to the digital. The cast vote records would provide some of that transparency, the digital would be matched to the physical ballot.
Arkansas has the exact same system that we have, and have the ability to provide the CVR, and have done so when FOIA’d. If the systems were truly honest, wouldn’t you shout it from the rooftops and want everyone to see your marvelous system??!! Instead we are met with denial, lawfare, refusal to comply, of just flat out not understanding that the law says they have to do it. It’s come to this, we see the establishment for what it is, and they are fighting it every step of the way… we continue to endure!