Experts say the Election Systems & Software (ES&S) system’s use of wireless modems could needlessly expose voting systems to cyber attacks in the state of Michigan.

LANSING, MI (October 5, 2020) – Free Speech For People, a national nonpartisan legal advocacy group, issued a letter today to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urging her office to launch an inquiry into ES&S’s false claims about its DS200 ballot tabulators with wireless modems. Although ES&S frequently claims that its voting tabulators never connect to the internet, researchers have found multiple election systems visible on  the internet.

“By selling an internet-connected voting system, ES&S has not only misled the voters and local election officials, but also endangered the security of Michigan’s elections,” the letter said.

“ES&S represents the wireless modems only as using ‘cellular networks.’ (By contrast, when discussing the transmission and posting of election night reporting systems – which are expected to be transmitted and posted on the public internet – ES&S explicitly acknowledges the transmission will be conducted via the internet.) But much more importantly, ES&S has repeatedly represented to its customers that none of its voting systems ever connect to the internet,” the letter continued.

Following attempts by Russian hackers to infiltrate numerous voting systems across the United States in 2016, the letter addresses the need for urgent action to protect Michigan’s voting systems in time for the 2020 election. The letter further calls for the state to compel ES&S to remove the modems at no cost to the state or localities and consider judicial action if the vendor refuses to do so.

Read the letter here.