Victory for Voters: NYSBOE Rejects ExpressVote XL

NEW YORK, NY (01/28/2021) (readMedia)-- Today, the New York State Board of Elections (NYSBOE) rejected the certification of the ExpressVote XL, a touch screen voting machine that would allow voters to mark their ballot electronically instead of on the traditional voter-marked paper ballots. In response Sarah Goff, Deputy Director of Common Cause/NY issued the following the statement:

"Common Cause/NY is relieved the New York State Board of Elections rejected the certification of the insecure, hackable voting machine, ExpressVote XL. Now lawmakers should pass legislation that bans hybrid machines like the ExpressVote XL. Paper ballots marked by the voter -- which New York currently uses -- is the election security gold standard. We should not be spending taxpayer dollars on anything else."

Cyber security election experts almost universally pan the touch screen technology, so much so that most states have switched back to hand-marked paper ballots. The ExpressVote XL, which uses Windows 7, is also about to become even less secure as Microsoft announced last year that it will no longer be providing software updates for the program. The machine also only prints ballot verifications in English, violating New York State Election Law. Lawmakers and the Daily News editorial board came out against the certification, and Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause/NY submitted testimony against the machines.

Currently, Senator Myrie and Assemblywoman Paulin have legislation in the New York State legislature that would ban the use of hybrid voting machines like the ExpressVote XL.

Common Cause released a report last year called "The ExpressVote XL: Bad for New York's Elections." Common Cause argues New York should not purchase the ExpressVote XL because it is:

• Vulnerable to cyber attacks and hardware malfunctions
  • ExpressVote XL machines do not use a secure paper trail, making results easier to hack. According to a recent study, only 40% of voters reviewed their ballot for accuracy after submission and only about 7% informed a poll worker if something was wrong. The study concludes that a hacker could easily change the results of 1% or 2% of votes without anyone noticing.
  • The 14 states that use ballot-marking devices have begun to phase them out.
  • Touchscreens malfunction and can cause long lines for voters. For example, in Pennsylvania, roughly 30% of the machines allowed voters to select only some candidates' names, and not others.
• Prone to undercounting votes
  • In a race in Pennsylvania, a candidate was recorded as having 164 votes on election night, but after a manual recount the same candidate had over 26,000 votes, winning the race.
• Expensive
  • The ExpressVote XL costs roughly $8,250 per unit. This is far more expensive than other voting machines. Additionally, it will cost more money to store and transport the machines.

ES&S, a voting machine company that makes the ExpressVote XL, has spent over $600,000 lobbying New York state officials.