Raffensperger demands millions for voting machine upgrades

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger demanded $20.2 million from Georgia legislators, ostensibly to address “election security concerns.” This was part of a massive $32.5 million budget request for Fiscal Year 2025. The “election security” proposals include reinstalling software on Ballot Marking Devices and scanner-tabulators, on systems bought in 2019.

Raffensperger still won’t fix anything

Brian Lupo of The Gateway Pundit has the details. Secretary Raffensperger made the following detailed budget request of the Committee on Appropriation, Georgia House of Representatives:

• Elections Software Reinstall – $10,432,696
• Security and Voter Upgrades – $11,839,160
• Investigations – $487,160
• Corporations – $3,275,000
• Elections Personnel Needs – $2,686,000
• Voter Contact/List Maintenance – $3,195,000
• Professional Licensing Boards – $397,200
• Total – $32,312,216

One of these upgrades consists of $6 million to replace power supplies on the BMDs and scanner-tabulators. This on systems that Georgia voters bought four years ago, for $107 million.

Georgia’s election systems are likely insecure as it is, and these fixes won’t address the issues. Voters – Democratic voters at that – are challenging the security of the systems on issues like:

• Voters not being able to read the machine-readable Quick-Read (QR) Codes from the BMDs, ande
• Vulnerability of the BMDs and possibly the scanner-tabulators to hacking.

Investigative journalist Debbie Dooley mentioned a particularly vulnerable part of the election system: Gavis Poll Pads.

These are tablet devices configured as Electronic Poll Books and apparently using a wireless interface to connect with a central poll book server in the precinct. Alert and conscientious Officers of Election have reported being able to reach the Internet on these devices, and order in pizza for delivery to a precinct.

Raffensperger also reiterated his refusal to “fix” any of the BMDs or scanners until after the 2024 Presidential election. He said the project would occupy 97,000 man-hours, thus taking too much time.

For perspective

Your editor is an OOE currently applying to “re-up” for the 2024 election season. His jurisdiction uses Election Systems and Software, not Dominion Voting Systems, the apparent vendor-of-choice in Georgia. Key differences between ESS and Dominion (as implemented) include without limitation:

• Ballot Marking Devices (called ExpressVote by ESS) are intended for the use of handicapped voters only. All other voters mark their own ballots by blackening in ovals on a ballot with scanner-alignment rectangles on one edge. (Anyone who has ever marked a test answer sheet with the phrase MAKE NO MARKS OR SMUDGES NEAR THESE RECTANGLES will recognize this device.)
• The output of ExpressVote machines is always human-readable, therefore voter-readable.
• ESS uses tablet-form Electronic Poll Books also. These connect to a central precinct voter-registration database server via a Bluetooth connection. This Bluetooth connection does not allow connection to the Internet. And no one ever ordered in pizza or any other meals through the use of these poll books.

ESS voting systems have had one known scandal, in Northampton County, Pennsylvania. The ExpressVote machines in four precincts reversed the markings of voter choices in a judicial retention race. Apparently whoever programmed them in advance, reversed the names in his programming. This has affected Northampton County once before. That county also seems to require ExpressVote use by all voters, instead of restricting that use to handicapped voters only.