John Sebes, Author at TrustTheVote

Plain Talk Series on Election Security #1: “Paper” vs. “Machine Voting” Debunked

John Sebes

July 6, 2019

It’s great that election security is so much in the news & political debate; we sure need more security in elections. But it’s not so great that much of the debate includes some simple but gigantic misunderstandings. Here’s Part 1 of a Plain Talk Series to help clarify things.

Florida: A Tale of Two Recounts, With Millions Excluded

John Sebes

November 14, 2018

Florida recounts are excluding millions of voters. At this writing, there are two recounts underway in Florida: not the Senator and Governor contest recounts, but two different recount processes for both; two different types of counties; and two different types of voters.

Election Meddling Using Social Media Bots & its Brush with Election Technology

John Sebes

September 18, 2017

For those interested in how foreign adversaries are meddling in U.S. elections with social media, there is a recent must-read paper from the NDN Think Tank: A Primer on Social Media Bots And Their Malicious Use In U.S. Politics authored by Tim Chambers of the Dewey Square Group. This report is the definitive work about: … Continued

Election Technology Enigmas Considered Harmful

John Sebes

August 23, 2017

I have one last comment of CAP’s recent report “9 Solutions to Secure America’s Elections” in addition to my previous comments and those of my colleagues here at the OSET Institute. I don’t agree that any 9 steps can “Secure America’s Elections” and especially not CAP’s 9 steps. Their recommendations are fundamentally about gradualism: the … Continued

Election Infrastructure Recommendations: We Need to Respect Our Election Officials

John Sebes

August 22, 2017

My thanks to the Center for American Progress (“CAP”) for their recent report “9 Solutions to Secure America’s Elections”. As my colleagues here at OSET Institute have already written, we agree with many of the report’s recommendations at a short term tactical level, but in addition have a longer term strategic view based on principles of … Continued

Elections + National Security = Hardware Threats + Policy Questions

John Sebes

August 1, 2017

U.S. election technology is increasingly regarded as critical to national interests. In discussions about the national-level importance of election technology, I’ve also increasingly heard the term “national security” used. The idea seems to be that election technology is as important as other national-security-critical systems. That’s fair enough in principle, but at present we are a … Continued

Dismantling Federal Assistance to US Elections — The Freeze/Thaw Cycle

John Sebes

April 7, 2017

Last time I wrote in this series on the EAC being dismantled, I used the metaphor of freezing and thawing to describe not only how the EAC’s effectiveness has been limited, but also the consequence: We now have voting systems that have been vetted with standards and processes that are almost as Jurassic as the pre-Internet era. … Continued

Kudos to EAC for Exploring Critical Nature of Election Infrastructure

John Sebes

April 6, 2017

Kudos to EAC for this week’s public Hearing on election infrastructure as critical infrastructure! After the 2016 election cycle, I think that there is very little disagreement that election infrastructure (EI) is critical, in the sense of: vital, super-important, a matter of national security, etc. But this hearing is a bit of a turning point. I’ll explain … Continued

The Freeze Factor – Dismantling Federal Assistance to U.S. Elections

John Sebes

April 4, 2017

“Frozen” is my key word for what happens to the voting system certification process after EAC is dismantled. And in this case, frozen can be really harmful. Indeed, as I will explain, we’ve already seen how harmful. Last time I wrote in this series on the EAC being dismantled (see the first and second posts), … Continued

Blockchains for Elections, in Maine: “Don’t Be Hasty”

John Sebes

March 28, 2017

Many have noted with interest some draft legislation in Maine that mandates the exploration of how to use blockchain technology to further election transparency. My comment is, to quote one well known sage, “Don’t Be Hasty”. First, though, let me say that I am very much in favor of any state resolving to study the use … Continued

Building the People’s Voting System

Author: John Sebes

Plain Talk Series on Election Security #1: “Paper” vs. “Machine Voting” Debunked

John Sebes

Florida: A Tale of Two Recounts, With Millions Excluded

John Sebes

Election Meddling Using Social Media Bots & its Brush with Election Technology

John Sebes

Election Technology Enigmas Considered Harmful

John Sebes

Election Infrastructure Recommendations: We Need to Respect Our Election Officials

John Sebes

Elections + National Security = Hardware Threats + Policy Questions

John Sebes

Dismantling Federal Assistance to US Elections — The Freeze/Thaw Cycle

John Sebes

Kudos to EAC for Exploring Critical Nature of Election Infrastructure

John Sebes

The Freeze Factor – Dismantling Federal Assistance to U.S. Elections

John Sebes

Blockchains for Elections, in Maine: “Don’t Be Hasty”

John Sebes