We have said it here as one of our Ten Myths:
Myth #6 – Memory card errors cannot affect the outcome of our elections because election officials conduct pre-election testing of our electronic voting systems.
RealityPre-election testing of electronic voting systems will detect only basic errors such as junk memory cards, wrong candidates, and machines that simply don’t work. Pre-election testing cannot detect all errors and programming attacks. Computer science tells us it is impossible to test completely. Recent academic reports outline many ways that clever programming can circumvent detection during basic pre-election testing.
Don’t take our word for it. An OpEdNews article covers the issue and the myth in more detail. Don’t take their word for it. They have a list of fifty studies including the one from UConn which we highlighted in testimony to the legislature.
From OpEdNews, Debunking Pre-Election Testing Myths:
Debunking myths can be a full time job in the election integrity world. Someone recently asserted:
“As for vote switching, not sure how many times I have to tell you, the election goes thru a logic and accuracy test that proves the votes are counted correctly. There is no vote switching … on ES&S machines. Not sure where you get this information. You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.”
Malware can easily defeat pre-election testing and certification processes: logic and accuracy tests cannot “prove” that software is free of malicious code. Assertions that no vote switching has ever been shown to have occurred on an ES&S system or any other computerized voting system is explained by the fact that malware (malicious software code) can be self-erasing.
