Voting Machines Used in Louisiana Elections Exposed as Highly Vulnerable in New Report

Security analysis of the Dominion ImageCastX ballot marking device (BMD) reveals critical vulnerabilities that can be exploited to subvert all election security measures, Secretary of State Candidate Brandon Trosclair calls for immediate decertification of all Dominion voting systems used in Louisiana to protect Louisiana citizens voting rights. 

A 96-page report entitled Security Analysis of the Dominion ImageCastX ballot marking device (BMD) authored by national election technology expert Professor J. Alex Halderman Ph.D. was released by US District Judge Totenberg in Atlanta on June 14, 2023, after being sealed and withheld from American citizens for two years. 

The report was prepared for plaintiffs in the Curling v Raffensperger case, which challenges Georgia's state-wide "universal-use BMD's" in all counties. Evidence provided in the report supports the plaintiffs claim that Georgia's BMD voting system is so insecure that it violates voter's constitutional rights. 

Principal findings in the report "show that the ICX suffers from critical vulnerabilities that can be exploited to subvert all of its security mechanisms, including user authentication, data integrity, protection access control, privilege separation, audit logs, protective counters, hash validation, and external firmware validation." 

The report "demonstrates these vulnerabilities provide multiple routes by which attackers can install malicious software on Georgia's BMDs, either with temporary physical access or remotely from election management systems (EMSs)." It also explains, "how such malware can alter voter’s votes while subverting all of the procedural protections practiced by the State, including acceptance testing, hash validation, logic and accuracy testing, external firmware validation, and risk-limiting audits (RLAs)." 

The report raises troubling questions about the ability of election system vendors, as well as federal and state elections officials to evaluate and certify complex electronic voting systems. 

Professor Halderman recommends that "the most effective remedy for the problems found and others like them is to rely less on BMDs." It also notes that "in most of the U.S. voters mark ballots by hand, and BMDs like the ICX are reserved as an assistive technology for voters who need them." 

Secretary of State Candidate Brandon Trosclair commenting on the report said, "Given the severe threat to the security and protection of Louisiana citizens' voting rights posed by the Dominion ImageCastX BMDs and the Dominion Democracy Suite EMS the Secretary of State should immediately decertify these systems. We should move to implement secure hand-marked, hand-counted paper ballots at the precinct level in compliance with Louisiana Constitution Article XI Section 2 which states, "ballots shall be counted in public." 

Halderman Report retrieved from: Security Analysis of the Dominion ImageCast X - Freedom to Tinker