This story is excerpted from the MT Lowdown, a weekly newsletter digest containing original reporting and analysis published every Friday.
Throughout the first month of the 2023 legislative session, election skeptics in Montana have raised question after question about a very specific aspect of the state’s election infrastructure: its electronic vote tabulators, or “voting machines.” Can the machines be hacked? Do they contain modems? Should voters trust the company — ES&S — that supplies them?
Last week, the Legislature’s election security select committee got a chance to direct those inquiries straight to ES&S itself. Two of the company’s executives appeared remotely to explain the inner workings of the machines, the sourcing of the components inside them and the complex testing they go through before they process a single ballot.
“Short of taking your word for it, and with all due respect, how do we as legislators know that there are no networking capabilities inside the machines?” asked Sen. Theresa Manzella, R-Hamilton, one of Montana’s more outspoken election skeptics.
Chris Wlaschin, ES&S’s senior vice president and chief information security officer, wasted no time in taking action.
He stated that, “To begin, I want to clarify that we have provided written confirmation to the secretary of state’s office that the devices utilized in Montana are devoid of any networking capabilities. Additionally, we offer counties an open-and-inspect procedure for the DS200, where they can physically open the top cover. We present them with images illustrating the appearance of a DS200 with a modem and one without. By opening the cover and examining the interior, they can easily ascertain the absence of a modem, SIM card, or any similar components.”
Wlaschin also noted that the machines undergo “significant emissions testing” to ensure they aren’t emitting any radiation or signals associated with a wireless device — tests that are certified by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.
That’s just a sampling of the company’s attempts to reassure the committee that Montana’s voting machines are in fact secure. The hearing stretched on for nearly two hours. But the latter portion featured a twist: an appearance by Ben Cotton, founder of the digital forensics firm CyFIR, who was involved in a controversial audit of Arizona’s 2020 election and was named last fall by Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in a request for a special prosecutor to investigate unlawful access to voting machines.
Cotton tried to make a case for change to address purported vulnerabilities in Montana. Rep. Ed Stafman, D-Bozeman, pushed back on the relevance of his presentation.
Stafman inquired, “Mr. Cotton, can you provide any evidence indicating the existence of widespread voter fraud in Montana?”
“No, I don’t,” Cotton replied.
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