Top Stories in October: 'Next Generation' Voting Machines Have Alarming Vulnerabilities

In an op-ed written by Brian Varner, a special projects researcher for Symantec, he explains how in 2016, he bought two voting machines on eBay for $100. "The information I found on the drives, including candidates, precincts, and the number of votes cast on the machine, were not encrypted," he wrote. "Within hours, I was able to change the candidates' names to be that of anyone I wanted. When the machine printed out the official record for the votes that were cast, it showed that the candidate's name I invented had received the most votes on that particular machine." As the US approaches the midterm elections, the ease with which a researcher could tamper with voting machines should be alarming. So, in advance of this year's midterms, Varner bought two more machines to see how much the security had improved. We'll let him tell it: "To my dismay, I discovered that the newer model machines—those that were used in the 2016 election—are running Windows CE and have USB ports, along with other components, that make them even easier to exploit than the older ones." While exploits exist (WIRED has previously reported on the vulnerabilities of voting machines and advocated for paper ballots and paper backups), it's clear from the list below that our readers remain committed to being an informed and vigilant electorate.