How to hack an election in six easy steps

By | April 6, 2018

J. Alex Halderman, a professor of computer science and engineering at U-M, helped create a video on the vulnerability of U.S. electronic voting systems called, “I Hacked an Election. So Can the Russians.” The video is part of a series by the New York Times on voting in America, which will run until Election Day in November.

Calling the systems “dangerous and obsolete,” Halderman illustrated his position by holding a mock election on the Ann Arbor campus pitting Michigan against The Ohio State University. The catch? The students who participated were voting on machines whose operating systems had been hacked. According to the video, the same type of equipment—which leaves no paper trail—is used in at least 10 U.S. states. “All cybersecurity experts who have given electronic voting machines any thought agree: These machines have got to go,” says Halderman.