In this testimony, I will give an overview of the security issues facing elections in the United States today, with emphasis on the risks and vulnerabilities inherent in Direct Recording Electronic (DRE “touchscreen”) voting machines as well as the exposure of our election infrastructure to disruption by national security adversaries. I offer three specific recommendations:
• Paperless DRE voting machines should be immediately phased out from US elections in favor of systems, such as precinct-counted optical scan ballots, that leave a direct artifact of the voter’s choice.
• Statistical “risk limiting audits” should be used after every election to detect software failures and attacks.
• Additional resources, infrastructure, and training should be made available to state and local voting officials to help them more effectively defend their systems against increasingly sophisticated adversaries.
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