Lawsuit Alleges Ohio Voting Machines Have Backdoor

In the U.S. presidential elections, we saw that electronic voting systems have come about to play a significant role. However, concerns have also been raised as to the security of these systems. For instance, the Green Party candidate from Ohio has launched a lawsuit alleging that the voting machines used in Ohio had a ‘backdoor.’


Voting machines

Bob Fitrakis is a Green party candidate in Ohio. He is a professor of political science at Columbus State University. He has filed the lawsuit against the Republican Party of State John Husted.

The reason why Husted has been made the defendant in the lawsuit is that he was the one who gave the nod on the purchase of the Election Systems & Software which were then used in the voting process in Ohio. Interestingly, the machines were purchased without any open bidding and the purchase also lacked certain other regulatory conditions.

In his lawsuit’s filing, Fitrakis states, “ES&S has installed a ‘back door’ into such hardware and software that enables persons who are not under the supervision and control of defendant Husted, and who are not under the supervision and control of Ohio’s boards of elections, to access the recording and tabulation of votes.”

Fitrakis says that such a ‘backdoor’ in the machines essentially allowed third-parties to meddle with the vote count and potentially rig them. He is ready to present a number of notable security experts to substantiate his claim.

Speaking about the lawsuit, he said, “An expert, who worked for 37 years for the National Security Agency just told that court that the uncertified and untested software has created vulnerabilities for the Ohio election system and could allow for both a backdoor to tamper the vote and allow for viruses to be inserted.”

Source: OSU

Courtesy: The Register

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Salman

Salman Latif is a software engineer with a specific interest in social media, big data and real-world solutions using the two.Other than that, he is a bit of a gypsy. He also writes in his own blog. You can find him on Google+ and Twitter .

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