Earlier this year, Free Speech For People organized a letter to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), signed by over two dozen computer and election security experts urging the EAC to include a robust ban on wireless connectivity capability in the federal voting system guidelines. Though the EAC disregarded the experts’ advice, the Ohio Board of Voting System Examiners were swayed by the experts’ judgement and expertise, adopting a measure that would prohibit devices capable of wireless connectivity in voting machines. 

“A voting machine  shall not be connected to the Internet.  A voting system or voting machine is prohibited from containing any wireless communication hardware or software components,” the Ohio standards read.

The experts’ letter warned, “If wireless networking capability is there, it is inevitable that it will get turned on and used. It would be a recklessly naïve mistake to expect that procedures and processes could ensure that the wireless capability could or would not be activated, intentionally or  unintentionally.”

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose supported the prohibition saying, “Why even have that ability there that could be a vector for illicit behavior? Or it could create a public confidence problem.”

Read more about this important victory here.