Paper Audits Are Necessary When China-Made Parts Are Embedded in Election Machines

A Department of Homeland Security warning indicates that voting machines with components manufactured in China pose significant security risks, necessitating independent paper audits rather than accepting certifications as sufficient verification. While no evidence suggests foreign governments have successfully altered U.S. vote counts, the supply-chain exposure alone warrants thorough examination of paper records to reconcile machine-produced results with the actual ballots. This approach, supported by local inquiries and federal grant conditions, emphasizes verification as a duty to ensure trust in election outcomes.

• DHS has warned that voting machines with components from foreign adversaries, including China, present significant security risks.
• While there’s no evidence of successful foreign manipulation of U.S. vote counts, the supply chain exposure is acknowledged by major vendors.
• Independent paper audits are presented as a necessary safeguard, distinct from accusations of fraud, to verify election results.
• California’s existing audit procedures are described as narrower than the federal requirement for a 5% manual audit for full grant access.
• Local investigations in Sacramento and Riverside counties revealed issues with system security testing and ballot reconciliation, underscoring the need for independent verification.
• Photographs show Dominion-branded cartons marked ‘Made in China’ in a Sacramento election warehouse, indicating a local, concrete fact related to supply chain origins.
• The article argues that determining the exact provenance and configuration of deployed voting equipment is crucial for a comprehensive security assessment.
• Independent verification should encompass paper reconciliation, meaningful hand audits, system examination, and supply-chain verification, with public reporting of findings.