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  • 2016-12-03 (xsd:date)
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  • Wisconsin Recount Observers Find Voting Machines with Broken Seals? (en)
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  • On 2 December 2016, Daily News Bin reported that recount officials in the state of Wisconsin discovered seals that showed signs of tampering on five of the voting machines in St. Croix county: The post linked to images from the web site of Green Party candidate Jill Stein. The site hosted WI Observer Reports, filed not by recount officials, but by laypeople who volunteered to observe post-election recount efforts. Wendy in St. Croix county submitted a very brief statement, along with photographs of two machines she attested were among five with broken seals: Both posts lacked details about the process of sealing voting equipment in Wisconsin or elsewhere, evidence the machines were photographed in St. Croix during recount efforts, or any information above and beyond those brief remarks. Dates, precise locations, and the circumstances under which the images were obtained were unknown. The site linked to the Wisconsin Elections Commission's web site page [PDF], noting that St. Croix County was undertaking a hand count and optical scan, but it was not immediately whether clear voting equipment was being examined as part of that effort. The images purportedly showed two of the five machines, and their role in the recount efforts was not described. The images depicted two seals that read REMOVAL OF LABEL VOIDS WARRANTY, and while both images depicted worn labels, neither was removed. Another inconsistency about the site's claim was that it appeared to show a different type of machine from the type reported by the Wisconsin Elections Commission web site. The site hosts a list of voting equipment used per municipality, [PDF] showing that although counties other than St. Croix used the ES&S brand of equipment listed, St. Croix used only Dominion and Sequoia products: Finally, most claims of potential interference had to do with voting machines being hackable via remote, electronic means: While images apparently showed two of five voting machines in St. Croix County, Wisconsin with tampered seals, the images were taken by a private individual and did not constitute a report from recount officials. The voting equipment shown was not the voting equipment the state of Wisconsin reported was used in that jurisdiction. Labels affixed to the machine were worn but not removed, and the labels stated that their removal voided the warranty, not that it disqualified the machine's tabulations. On 5 December 2016, a public information officer for the Wisconsin Elections Commission responded to our inquiries regarding the voting machines used and reports of broken seals in St. Croix: In a separate comment, the representative added: Per the statement, St. Croix used DS200 scanners manufactured by ES&S. Those scanners were serviced after acquisition to enable electronic transmission of unofficial results on 8 November 2016. The technician who serviced the machines did not replace the warranty seals. However, an ES&S representative stated that warranty seals used by technicians and should not be confused with 'security seals' that the County would have used on Election Day. ES&S planned to submit an affidavit attesting to such, and additional testing of the equipment is planned after the completion of the recount. (en)
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