Dear State Election Officer: Petition to South Carolina’s State Election Board for Hand-Marked Paper Ballot Elections.
 
We the undersigned, respectfully petition the State Election Board to require the use of hand-marked paper ballots in South Carolina to begin in the November 2018 election.  South Carolina uses direct recording election machines (DREs) without any paper trail. DREs have proven to be easily hackable. If there is a contested election, altering of votes, or any type of breach, there is no way to verify the state’s election results.  Paper ballots allow for an opportunity to count and audit election results. 
 
In an age of increasing hacking risks, researchers have found that the electronic voting infrastructure, including voting machines and registration databases, have serious vulnerabilities.  Simply replacing or upgrading election infrastructure is not sufficient against these threats.  The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has concluded that requiring paper ballots, banning wireless components and implementing statistically sound audits of election results are essential to safeguard our elections.  
 
We request that you follow the practices identified by leading experts in election security and government agencies:
 
(1)  Replace paperless voting machines with systems that have hand-marked paper ballots –– a physical record of the vote that is out of reach from cyberattacks.  Paper ballots cannot be hacked.
 
(2)  Conduct robust post-election audits in federal elections.
 
(3)  Upgrade systems to ensure that South Carolina’s election websites, statewide registration systems, and election night reporting systems are defended against threats of intrusion and manipulation.
 
(4)  Prohibit wireless connectivity to voting machines and registration databases to limit vulnerabilities to hacking risks.
 
(5)  Train and educate election officials at all levels on how they need to incorporate security measures into their election practices.