California has launched few Government Projects with higher stakes than its ambitious 2018 Program for Registering Millions of New Voters at the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), an effort with the potential to shape Elections for years to come.
Yet Six days before the Scheduled Launch of the DMV’s New “Motor Voter” System last April, State Computer Security Officials noticed something Ominous, The Department’s Computer Network was trying to Connect to Internet Servers in Croatia.
“This is pretty typical of a compromised device phoning home,” a California Department of Technology Official wrote in an April 10th, 2018 email. “My Latin is a bit rusty, but I think Croatia translates to Hacker Heaven.”
Although the Email described the Incident as the DMV system attempting “Communication with Foreign Nations,” a Department Spokesperson later insisted Voter Information wasn’t at Risk.
The apparent Hacking Incident was the most glaring of several unexpected Problems, never Disclosed to the Public, in rolling out a Project that Cost Taxpayers close to $15 Million.
The Times conducted a Four-Month Review of nearly 1,300 Pages of Documents and Interviewed State Employees and other Individuals who worked on the Project.
Neither the Emails nor the Interviews made clear Who was ultimately Responsible for the Botched Rollout. The Emails present a Picture of a Project bogged down by Personnel Clashes, Technological Hurdles, and a persistent belief among those involved that Top Officials were demanding they make the “Motor Voter” Program Operational before the June 5th Primary, so that it could Boost the Number of Ballots Cast.
If the Project dodged a Bullet with what Staff Members called “the Croatia incident,” other Serious Problems appeared in the hours Leading up to, and the actual day of, the New Motor Voter System’s Launch.
Touchscreen Devices at DMV Offices seemingly Changed Customer Selections from Registering to Vote to “I do not want to register to vote or update my information.” When Discovered, Two State Engineers said some Files were Manually “Corrected”, even though Questions lingered about the Customer’s Intent.
Touchscreen Problems were also the Source of Frantic Emails among Top DMV Officials regarding the Potential for Identity Theft, the Screens weren’t Clearing Personal Data between Customer use. Here again, Physical Testing of the Devices was Limited to a Single Four-Hour Session the Day before Launch, probably Insufficient to Catch potential Shortcomings.
Officials later Discovered a Problem with Incorrect County Information, thus Sending a Voter’s New or Updated Registration to the Wrong Location.
Problems arose after DMV Officials turned on the System’s Second Phase with Internet Registration and Change-of-Address Functions. A DMV Official wrote that there were “Defects” including “Errors in Reporting Eligibility Information.”
Officials hurriedly brought in New Outside Programmers who had worked on Healthcare.gov and other National Projects and were considered to be Crisis Experts. Contracts totaling $250,000 were Awarded to the Two Companies involved, Layer Aleph and Open Lattice. Neither Company is still working on the Voter Registration Project.
In the first Two Days of Operations, the DMV sent more than 35,000 Voter Records to State Elections Officials. By the end of the First Month, the Total was more than 313,000. Errors by DMV Field Office Employees were later cited as the Cause of some 23,000 Registration Errors. But other Mistakes may be attributable to the Fact that Multiple State Government Teams were Involved with No Clear Leadership Structure.
Nor was there Consistent Oversight about Data Security. In August, an employee mistakenly Deleted Official Online Voter and License Data while using his Laptop. A Department Spokesperson said the Mistake was quickly Fixed and that Rules were subsequently Changed to Ensure that Employees could only Read, not actually Delete, the Original Information.
Through February 2019, the New Motor Voter System had been used for more than 6.7 Million Transactions. The Majority were either People Updating their Voter Registration or Opting Out of the Process. About 1 Million New Voters were Registered.
California’s Little Hoover Commission, an Independent Oversight Agency, urged State Officials last Fall to Ensure that the Voter Registration System’s Problems are Fixed. “Otherwise,” the commission’s report concluded, “the rich diversity of California’s population will be limited in voice and fairness, and the legitimacy of elections called into question.”
As a Information Technologist with over 50 years of International experience, these types of Project Development and Rollout Mistakes just drives you to Scream.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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