Voting Village returns to #defcon34! In addition to the voting machine lab, we have some terrific talks this year. Come hear about de-anonymizing ballots in Georgia, and the inside scoop on the (unpublished) Puerto Rican election systems report, among many others. info.defcon.org/defcon34/vil...

@hallny.bsky.social is speaking at the DEFCON Voting Village!!! «Watching Norway's Election» by Hallvard Nygard

Matt Blaze@mattblaze.org · 2d ago

Voting Village returns to #defcon34! In addition to the voting machine lab, we have some terrific talks this year. Come hear about de-anonymizing ballots in Georgia, and the inside scoop on the (unpublished) Puerto Rican election systems report, among many others. info.defcon.org/defcon34/vil...

Voting Village returns to #defcon34! In addition to the voting machine lab, we have some terrific talks this year. Come hear about de-anonymizing ballots in Georgia, and the inside scoop on the (unpublished) Puerto Rican election systems report, among many others. info.defcon.org/defcon34/vil...

(The ADA, weirdly, doesn’t generally apply to election polling places).

Ironically, the biggest accessibility benefit when Philly switched to a BMD-based system was that the new machines were so heavy and cumbersome that they had to make sure all polling stations were wheelchair accessible, because there was no other way to bring the machines in.

The solution for voters who need BMDs are BMDs. Just as the solution for voters who need any other assistance is to provide it as best possible.

Again, I’m not saying that undetectable software-based fraud with a BMD system is EASY or LIKELY. And the burden should be on those making claims to support them. But it is possible. And the problem is completely avoided simply by using hand-marked ballots (and RLAs).

The ability to refute (or confirm) claims that an election was stolen via malicious software seems self-evidently important these days. BMD-based systems deny us this.

There are non-software-independent elections systems in use today, and the best we can do is “do the best we can”. But we can do better than that. It’s unfathomable to me why, in 2026, anyone would deploy a new system that isn’t software independent.

The problem is that complex software (and automation generally) is useful, but also inherently untrustworthy. And this is a problem that has existed well before computers were used in elections.

That’s simply not true. In a system with hand-marked paper ballots, you can examine the ballots and have complete confidence that no software defect affected the election. With BMD based ballots, however, the ballots are suspect because they were produced with software.

Tina Peters, as kooky as she is, knows all this full well. She was an election official before she embarked on her life of crime. She knows there is no practical way to make major changes to election equipment or procedures 3 months before a general election. This is theatre.

- CISA has no authority to force sates to do anything about election operations and neither, for that matter, does the rest of the executive branch. This is why Trump's elections executive orders keep being stopped in court or ignored.

A few notes: - Meeting with CISA is not a high bar and doesn't indicate much. - Getting rid of BMDs is a good idea, but no equipment is going to change before the midterms. It's almost August. - Full hand counts is simply not practical in most US jurisdiction, but RLAs provide similar assurance.

Sen. Joe McCarthy notoriously smeared those who invoked their rights before his committee as “fifth amendment communists”. I suppose Rand Paul will talk about “fifth amendment scientists” now.

We have an AWESOME lineup (if I do say so myself) for the Voting Village this year. Sneak peak of the schedule soon. Watch this space.

This is a wonderful documentary that you should see whether you'd heard of Joybubbles or not and whether you identify as a, um, phone enthusiast, or not.

Exploding The Phone@explodingthephone.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Rachael Morrison's wonderful Joybubbles documentary, a heartfelt story about a blind whistling phone phreak, will be showing in San Francisco, San Rafael, Boston, Ann Arbor, and having an international premiere in Warsaw, Poland in the next few weeks. Details in thread!

shout out to The Strand bookstore staffer who did this

The most significant thing about the speech was what WASN'T included. There was credible speculation that he was going to announce de-certification of voting equipment from disfavored vendors and/or announce a new executive order claiming control over election operations. But he didn't.

That said, in normal times, the President of the United States giving a speech about how US elections are untrustworthy and rigged would be a four alarm fire of crisis. But here in 2026, it's just a Thursday evening.

Yes, I watched the speech last night. No, there were no new revelations that suggested 2020 or any other election was rigged or tampered with. Yes, this is exhausting.

As someone who has reported in major media for a decade on election security and electoral misinformation, last night's speech was an example of the latter.

Yes, I watched the speech last night. No, there were no new revelations that suggested 2020 or any other election was rigged or tampered with. Yes, this is exhausting.

People always look at me strangely and back slightly away when they ask me what I do and I say "non-murderous professor".

the real story behind this viral photo is even more heartbreaking than the one the public created.

The Woman in the Photo Wanted to Be Alone. Instead, She Went Viral.

America saw what it wanted to see on the face of its newest icon. And everyone saw it wrong.

notus.org

Honestly my first thought reading this morning’s headline was “Whoa, they used the wrong senator’s name! How embarrassing. Some editor is going to get fired for this.”

Our Coders’ Rights Project is always here to help www.eff.org/issues/coders

Coders' Rights Project

EFF's Coders' Rights Project protects programmers and developers engaged in cutting-edge exploration of technology. Security and encryption researchers help build a safer future for all of us using di...

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Matt Blaze@mattblaze.org · 4w ago

If I got a threatening lawyer letter like this, my first response would be to take a deep breath and not freak out. Then I'd call/email someone with experience dealing with this stuff, like our friends at EFF. In fact, that's exactly what I've done when I've actually gotten threats like this.

The cease and desist letter purportedly from Flock is an apparent fake. But it's a good time to remember that: - Companies send C&D letters without legal basis ALL THE TIME - There are some legal protections for public discussion of security. - If you get a threatening letter, get legal advice.

That seems fairly persuasive. I'm concluding fake absent additional evidence to the contrary.

FYI, the letter is a fake. bsky.app/profile/cing...

Chris Ingraham@cingraham.bsky.social · 4w ago

FYI: this is a fake viral marketing bit by this "Saturday Salon" group. Flock's Chief Strategy Officer says they never sent it; the branding is off and the purported author's title is wrong, among many other things.