Most voting machines can be hacked, report says

TRENTON - The electronic voting machines used in 18 of New Jersey's 21 counties can be hacked into in as little as seven minutes and manipulated to alter votes or fix elections, a new report by a Princeton University professor shows.

The report, by Andrew Appel of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton, was released yesterday after a hearing in an ongoing lawsuit to void the machines as unreliable.

"The AVC Advantage is too insecure to use in New Jersey," Appel concluded of the machine he tested over the summer. "New Jersey should not use any version of the AVC Advantage that it has not actually examined with the assistance of skilled computer-security experts."

Appel, a computer expert, tested New Jersey's most often-used touch-screen voting machine over the summer after questions arose about the accuracy of vote totals on some machines used in the Feb. 5 presidential primary.

His tests involved two machines that were used that day, including one that malfunctioned, said Penny Venetis, a law professor at Rutgers School of Law-Newark and codirector of its constitutional litigation clinic. Venetis represents the Coalition for Peace Action and others who have sued to force New Jersey to scrap its 10,000 electronic voting machines and return to paper balloting.

"We want these machines to be decommissioned. Enough is enough," Venetis said.

"The landmark is that for the first time a 100 percent independent review of the technology took place," said Irene Goldman, chairwoman of the coalition and one of the plaintiffs. "Everybody should be very happy there is a report that tells the truth about these machines."

With a trial date set for January, millions of New Jerseyans will vote on those machines in the Nov. 4 presidential election. Venetis said that at least 20 states have banned touch-screen voting machines similar to those used throughout New Jersey.

New Jersey has tried for at least three years to address critics' concerns by retrofitting the machines with printers that provide paper receipts. Voters could check their choices against what the machine recorded.

However, the state has missed several deadlines for retrofitting the machines because of technological glitches.

The case got a boost yesterday when Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg authorized the release of Appel's critical report, which can be viewed at

» READ MORE: http://citp.princeton.edu/voting/advantage/

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Appel said the machines, manufactured by California-based Sequoia Voting Systems, contain design flaws that could allow votes to go uncounted and cartridges that can be manipulated to change votes.

Sequoia disputes the findings.

"Throughout our report response, we show how simple, established, and previously used accuracy and security protections . . . make the items in their report next to impossible," company spokesman Edwin Smith said. "Many of the scenarios painted by plaintiffs depend on the existence of crooked, malicious, and corrupt poll workers, while the success of some scenarios depends on both corrupt poll workers and inattentive voters."

The New Jersey Secretary of State's office, which oversees elections, did not respond yesterday to a request for comment.