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A Majority Of Indiana Voting Machines Vulnerable Without Paper Backups

Courtesy of the IU Public Policy Institute

More than half of the voting machines Hoosiers are using in this year’s election don’t have a paper backup – making them more vulnerable to irreversible errors and breaches.

Republicans have repeatedly refused to provide counties funding to upgrade their machines.

An Indiana University Public Policy Institute analysis shows 57 percent of Indiana voting machines don’t have a verifiable paper trail. Policy analyst Joti Martin said the trail helps both voters and election administrators determine whether votes were recorded correctly.

“If the machine was tampered with, there’s no way for us to even know that that’s happened,” Martin said.

READ MORE: Can I Vote By Mail? Here's What You Need To Know For Indiana's Elections

The state's voting machines are never connected to the Internet, which helps reduce their vulnerability. But the risk doesn’t even have to be malicious – a software glitch would likely also be undetectable without the paper trail.

The General Assembly last year mandated all electronic voting machines be outfitted with paper backups. But Martin said that law doesn’t require it until 2030.

“Which, for the next 10 years, kind of leaves our elections vulnerable,” Martin said.

Democrats have pushed Republicans leaders to prioritize funding for the necessary upgrades that 52 of 92 counties still don’t have.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.