News
By George Miller. 11-13-23
Florida bill HR359 would banish foreign-based or owned voting machines and software. It would also protect hand counts, which have now been outlawed in several states.
There has been much controversy concerning the security and accuracy of certain voting systems used widely in the USA and even parts of Florida. The lack of transparency concerning hardware, firmware, procedures, version updates, vote counts and other data, archiving, software configuration control, system maintenance and Internet connectivity have created much distrust. As designed, the systems seem capable of delivering accurate results, but the possibilities of misuse and lack of true auditability seem manifold. Government agencies and suppliers have refused to supply adequate information for comprehensive outside audits, citing proprietary information and, ironically, election security. The technology seems to have gotten ahead of the ability of the bureaucracy and watchdogs to manage it.
Keep in mind that at least one company was caught lying about Internet connectivity. Unlikely totals in some areas have not been adequately explained. Election deadlines and procedures don’t provide adequate ability to erase doubts.
However, one supplier sued Fox News over claims that could not be proven and reputedly was awarded $750,000,000, which should put a damper on future claims. Claims of “foreign servers” in Italy, China and other foreign nations altering votes have been unproven. Many related election suits have been dismissed.
But in the interests of removing these as a concern, the Florida legislature will try to pass HR359 to plug up these potential holes. There may be challenges by suppliers, other government agencies and vested interests.
It doesn’t seem like there will be enough time to implement new law that would be passed as a result in time for the 2024 election, with all the hurdles to be overcome. The effectivity date is July 1, 2024, but the bill has yet to even be passed.
Thanks to Deb Boelkes of We The People for bringing this to our attention. she asked us to include this note:
Informing you of a bill introduced in Tallahassee on 11/7: https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2024/359/BillText/Filed/PDF If you like what you see, call our State House Rep, Dean Black, and encourage him to co-sponsor this bill. Yulee Office: (904) 548-4920 / Email: [email protected]
11-15-23 update: We sent an inquiry to Elections Supervisor Janet Adkins to learn her take on it. receiving no response, we queried again and she responded on 11-15 saying only that she wasn’t familiar with it. We asked her to examine the article, the bill and let us know.
George Miller is Publisher and Co-Founder of Citizens Journal Florida, based in Fernandina Beach. He is a “retired” operations management consultant, software and publishing executive (10 years) and manufacturing management professional.
