The Voting News for 06/03/2022

News from all over.  

Cyber agency: No evidence the flaws in the Dominion Voting Systems’ equipment have been exploited to alter election results | Kate Brumback/Associated Press

…”states aren’t doing enough. It urges prompt mitigation measures, including both continued and enhanced “defensive measures to reduce the risk of exploitation of these vulnerabilities.” Those measures need to be applied ahead of every election, the advisory says, and it’s clear that’s not happening in all of the states that use the machines”

National: ‘The horse and buggy era’: Attacks on voting machines set off fresh worries about election subversion | Fredreka Schouten/CNN

Despite warnings that ditching voting machines would delay election results and likely violate the law, county commissioners in a rural slice of western Colorado this year voted to stop paying the licensing fee on the county's devices. Commissioners in Nye County, Nevada, meanwhile, want local election officials to begin hand-counting paper ballots in this year's elections

National: Lawyer Who Plotted to Overturn Trump Loss Recruits Election Deniers to Watch Over the Vote | Alexandra Berzon/The New York Times

In a hotel conference center outside Harrisburg, Pa., Cleta Mitchell, one of the key figures in a failed scheme to overturn Donald J. Trump’s defeat, was leading a seminar on “election integrity.” “We are taking the lessons we learned in 2020 and we are going forward to make sure they never happen again,” Ms. Mitchell told the crowd of about 150 activists-in-training

Alabama Secretary of State responds to lawsuit seeking to prohibit use of electronic voting machines | Jacob Holmes/Alabama Political Reporter

The lawsuit claims machines manufactured by Election Systems & Software, the provider of all Alabama machines, can be connected to the internet, but Merrill said that is not the case in Alabama

Colorado election law updates follow threats against election workers, allegations against Tina Peters | Nick Coltrain/The Denver Post

Colorado law now includes new provisions aimed to protect the state’s elections and its election workers

Georgia: Revealed: election conspiracy theorists work as election officials across state | Justin Glawe/The Guardian

The effort to install local election officials who promote Donald Trump’s lie that the 2020 election was stolen has seen particular success in the crucial swing state of Georgia, where at least eight county election officials are promoters of the falsehood, a Guardian investigation has found.

Georgia: There’s no evidence of election hacks but still plenty to worry about | Joseph Marks/The Washington Post

Georgia’s voting machines recorded votes properly – but they have hacking vulnerabilities that went undiscovered for years.

Nevada: Frayed Trust Frustrates Some Rural Election Officials | Colton Lockhead/Associated Press

...seven of Nevada’s 17 counties have considered either switching away from Dominion electronic voting machines, which have come under fire from election deniers following the 2020 election, or eliminating electronic voting systems altogether in favor of paper ballots and hand counting, a move that local election officials argue would only create more distrust, uncertainty and delays in the election process. 

Tennessee: Shelby County Commission will consider voting machine purchase again | Katherine Burgess/Memphis Commercial Appeal

After years of stalemate, the Shelby County Commission is poised to — once again — consider funding new voting machines for Shelby County. ...They have in the past voted down a similar arrangement, voicing support for hand-marked paper ballots over ballot marking devices. If approved, the agreement would spend $5.8 million on new machines from vendor Election Systems & Software, LLC, known as ES&S,..

Tennessee: Paper-trail law has county eyeing new voting machines | Heather Mullinix/Crossville Chronicle

Cumberland County needs to upgrade its voting machines before the 2024 elections, and money is available to defray the cost. Cumberland County Election Administrator Jill Davis explained the Tennessee General Assembly will require all voting machines in the state to be capable of producing a paper trail of votes. ...Cumberland County uses the Infinity election system by MicroVote. Davis said a request for proposals will have to be issued before selecting how to move forward, but the company offers a printer that can be added to the voting machine. Estimated cost is $4,300 per machine, with a request for 80 machines. ...Davis explained. “When you make your selections, you verify your vote and it does a printout behind the glass, so it’s never handled. It’s always there for the audits.”

Wyoming: Park County revisits hand counting ballots discussion | Lucy Jane Crimm Powell/Wyoming Tribune Eagle

Boone Tidwell and Park County locals urged county commissioners May 17 to allow him and a group of volunteers to count election ballots by hand. A month ago every seat was filled at the Park County commissioner’s meeting room, as Tidwell advocated for hand counting election ballots after the machines had processed the votes….After researching the legality surrounding the proposal for a hand count of ballots within Park County during the election process, the county attorney stated that “at present throughout Wyoming, all ballots are designed to be counted by machine,