Original article. How can an election be certified when the law has been broken. And, there was no investigation? No one was held accountable? Are our laws just suggestions? Do we have any reason to trust election results?
By Joe Hoft
Published November 29, 2022 at 8:00 pm 295 Comments
The use of flash drives in the election process has been well documented. New evidence suggests that these flash drives aren’t used for reporting election results by the media.
We first became aware of the use of flash drives during the 2020 Election when an individual in Milwaukee misplaced a flash drive and was forced to turn around and go get it at about the same time that 145,000 votes were recorded for Joe Biden only in the state.
There were other reports on the misuse of flash drives and the related lack of controls that we shared over the past few years.
We also reported that per a discussion of the election process in Georgia after the 2020 Election, the results at various locations are consolidated on flash drives that are then carried to locations where the data on the flash drives are downloaded and consolidated.
The IT auditors who presented in Georgia reported that the results in elections are gathered onsite in memory cards and then transported to drop-off points and eventually gathered at a facility where they are consolidated and then forwarded to the Dominion Servers and then to SCYTL and the state or the media. [They also noted that at the consolidation point there were gaps in the process that would allow for a bad actor to adjust vote totals.]
This appears consistent with an understanding of the process in Michigan. IT and election expert and former Michigan State Senator Patrick Colbeck reported on the roll-up process as follows.
So, the official story as to how election results are transmitted on election night to your favorite county or municipal website is that they are transferred via “sneakernet”. What is the “sneakernet”? Well, as applied to elections it involves the following communication pathways:
- Once polls closed, election results at each precinct are stored on secure flash drives
- Flash drives are removed from the precinct tabulators and placed in a sealed envelope along with other election artifacts such as the official statement of votes for the precinct.
- Sealed envelopes from precincts are transferred physically (i.e. walking in “sneakers”) to other agents of government such as the County Clerk’s office
- The County Clerk unseals the envelope and inserts the secure flash drive into the County Election Management Server
- The County Election Management Server then uploads the election results to a government website which allows the public to review the results via the internet
As long as the envelope seal remains intact between the precinct and the County, voters have every reason to believe that a roll-up of the precinct results will be accurately reflected in the County election results.
However, during the recent primary election in 2022 in Wayne County, Michigan (Detroit), Colbeck reported that the following occurred.
Originally, Colbeck wanted to observe the tabulation of results but was prevented from doing so despite the law providing the ability to do so:
…respectfully requested the ability to oversee the tabulation of results received from the 43 municipalities in Wayne County. Despite citing our statutory authority to do so under MCL 168.733 and MCL 168.807, Lisa Williams denied us access and directed staff to provide us with seating outside of the clerk’s office.
Colbeck sat outside the County’s office and kept records of the results being dropped off at the facility. Colbert observed the first results being reported by the media. But something strange occurred. None of the envelopes dropped off at the center had been opened after arriving at the facility, yet results were being reported.
Please note that ZERO of the communities posting election results during the first website update at 10:39pm had delivered any of their results flash drives to the Wayne County Clerk’s office prior to 10:39pm. Either the flash drives were delivered by carrier pigeon or the election results for all of the communities included in the 10:39pm update were uploaded via the internet.
What is going on in our elections? How are results being obtained and reported?
It sure looks like we are being lied to. This process should be transparent and it’s anything but that.
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