Modem MOAB -- Essential Info for Every Election Judge & Concerned Citizen
-- An Actionable Item to Secure Your Vote!
Update & Disclaimer: After the August 13th Primary Election, I submitted a MN State Election Law Complaint form expressing my concerns that connecting the modems to the tabulators all across Dakota County was a violation of MN Statute 206.845.
On Tuesday September 5th, I received a reply from the Dakota County Attorney’s office informing me I was misinterpreting the statute. I was also informed that the EAC certification is voluntary and that ancillary equipment is not required to be certified.
Modem MOAB —
Essential Info for Every Election Judge & Concerned Citizen
As the election season approaches, I have been working with a phenomenal group of citizens in Dakota County who are concerned with election integrity. Our goal: secure, compliant, transparent, locally controlled elections. We have taken what we’ve learned and experienced in the 2020 election and dug deeper, especially into the statutes and technical compliance requirements for electronic voting equipment.
There are so many technical details to keep track of that it can make your head spin. So I drew this picture to help wrap my head around all the factors involved in creating a secure voting system.
Each piece of equipment in this diagram MUST be three things:
1. MN Statute Compliant
2. Tech Compliant – meeting Election Assistance Commission (EAC) certification standards, and
3. Air-Gap Secure – meaning that the election network is isolated from the public internet.
If any ONE piece of equipment fails to meet any ONE of these requirements, the entire voting system is corrupt…!
In our research in Dakota County, we have uncovered a major vulnerability – a breach in the law— in the voting system with the use of the modem – which actually FAILS all three of the criteria above! Read on to understand why.
Dakota County uses Dominion tabulators, along with five other counties in Minnesota. Seventy-eight counties in MN use ES&S, and three counties use HART. In Dakota County, when the polls close, head election judges are instructed to connect an external modem to the tabulator in order to transmit the unofficial results directly to the county. (The official results are taken from the memory card and results tapes).
Here are the key facts all election judges and concerned citizens need to know about the use of MODEMS in Minnesota.
Fact #1 – Connecting Modems to Tabulators is against the law in MN!
This is perhaps the most damning and clear-cut piece of evidence about modem usage.
MN Statute 206.845 Subdivision 1 prohibits connection of the tabulator to a modem – or to ANY wireless device! Read the full statute for yourself HERE.
“NO connection by MODEM is permitted…” !!!
Yet, the 2024 Dakota County Election Judge Manual instructs Head Election Judges to plug a modem into the tabulator to transfer results. Why is this? So far we have not been able to get answers — not from our city elections officials, not from our county election officials, and not from the Secretary of State.
(UPDATE — In Dakota County’s 9/5/24 response, they explain that they view Subdivision 2 as an exception to Subdivision 1).
FACT #2 – The Use of Modems are UNCERTIFIED in the State of Minnesota.
The Minnesota Secretary of State DOES NOT certify modems. They tell us directly HERE, on page 5 of their Certification of Dominion Democracy Suite Version 5.5-C Voting System: “The Secretary of State’s office does not certify modems in the certification process.” Read it for yourself in the middle of the top paragraph on page five.
The Secretary of State also provides a similar disclaimer about NOT certifying modems in the ES&S 6.06.0 Certification. See below…”This certification does not cover any modeming functions…” Read it for yourself on page 3, line 6.
So you tell me – what happens if an UNCERTIFIED piece of equipment, such as an external modem, is connected to a sterile system?
It contaminates and compromises the security of the entire system!
All of the efforts to prepare and test the machines ahead of time, all of the bipartisan election judges’ efforts to protect a fair, lawful process for 13 hours throughout the day goes directly out the window the very moment that tabulator is connected to an UNCERTIFIED modem!
Fact #3 – Connecting to a Modem VOIDs the EAC Certification & is NOT Secure!
Section 5:16 on pages 51-52 of this Testing and Certification Program Manual WARNS purchasers that “ANY changes or MODIFICATIONS to the system NOT TESTED & CERTIFIED by the EAC will void the EAC certification of the voting system. Read it for yourself on page 51-52 of this document:
So then modifying a certified system by attaching an uncertified modem to the tabulator nullifies its EAC certification and corrupts the integrity of the entire voting system. If our voting systems are not compliant, then they are not legal nor secure. To understand more, read this two-page article.
One other key thing to understand has to do with the modem transmission. City and County election officials have told us that a “secure tunnel” is created, but the reality is that it is NOT completely air-gapped. In order to create the VPN, they have to first login with credentials over the public internet. This creates an immediate internet exposure that corrupts the security of the transmission and opens up a door of access for bad actors. When the “Verizon Cell Secure Tunnel” is being established, there is a way to work around the secure tunnel and bypass it and get into the system after it is established.
Again, if we scrutinize the State’s certifications, there is NO line item mentioning that Verizon nor the modems themselves have been certified.
Hopefully by now, you realize the serious breach of security that MODEMS present:
1. Modems are not Statute Compliant!
2. Modems are not Tech Compliant – they are NOT certified!
3. Modems VOID the EAC certification and are NOT air gap secure.
So here is where WE the PEOPLE enter into the story...
ELECTION JUDGES – print out a copy of MN Statute 206.845. Bring it to the attention of your city election clerk and show it to your head election judge. Inquire as to how election results are transmitted from the precinct locations to the county.
Encourage them to consider using other methods of transferring results allowed for in Subdivision 2 that do not risk directly connecting the modem to the tabulator in a violation of Subdivision 1. For example, pictures could be taken of the results tape as soon as it prints and emailed directly to your county election clerk.
Your county will receive the results just as quickly as through a modem WITHOUT THE RISK of compromising the entire system and the results of the election due to a connection with an uncertified electronic wireless transmitting device! – AND, most importantly, without potentially violating State Statute in the process!
Citizens and Election Judges alike, if you witness anything that violates State Law or threatens the security of the election, you can complete and submit a Minnesota State Election Law Complaint Form to your county attorney.
To be continued…
This article is just a momentary snapshot of the full story of the 2024 elections in Minnesota. This is very much like those “choose your ending” stories you’d read for fun in junior high – only the future of our nation is at stake!
WE the PEOPLE are literally writing this script!
What happens next in our State and in our Nation is up to us!
Your and my future actions will determine its outcome! Be brave and take courageous, assertive, righteous actions to help protect our elections!
And no matter what – DO NOT LET THIS DETER YOU FROM VOTING!