New York City - February 2, 2021 -- The New York State Board of Elections unanimously rejected certification of a voting machine called the ExpressVote XL at a special late January meeting. The machine, made by ES&S, is referred to as a “hybrid” or “all-in-one” voting machine because it combines voting and tabulation in a single device. Rather than tabulating hand-marked paper ballots, the practice recommended by security experts, the ExpressVote XL generates a computer-printed summary card for each voter. The summary cards contain barcodes representing candidates’ names, and the machine tabulates votes from the barcodes. Security experts warn that the system “could change a vote for one candidate to be a vote for another candidate,” if it were hacked. Colorado, a leader in election security, has banned barcodes in voting, due to the high risk.

Professor Rich DeMillo, Chair of the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy at Georgia Tech, said, “It is encouraging that the commissioners refused to certify the ExpressVoteXL, an all-in-one ballot marking device that poses extraordinary risks for the voters of New York.” DeMillo is one of over 50 experts, good government groups and disability advocates who signed a letter opposing certification of the voting machine. Seven disability rights groups, led by Downstate New York Adapt, listed privacy concerns as a reason for their opposition. They noted the machine’s “skinny ballots” are a different size, and so might reveal voters’ choices.

The vendor ES&S will likely attempt to remedy the issues that were raised during the certification process and try to have the system certified again. Additionally there are other voting systems being marketed, and even in use here in New York that have the same security issues. So the next step in protecting New York voters is to pass legislation to permanently ban hybrid voting machines from being used in the state.