Microsoft to Offer Free Software Tools for Securing Elections

Microsoft said it will soon offer Free Software to help make Voting more Secure in the U.S. and Elsewhere.

The ElectionGuard Tool, which will be available this summer to Election Officials and Election Technology Suppliers through GitHub, aims to build Voting Systems with Enhanced Security through New Encryption Techniques.

The Program would also enable Election Audits and let both Voters and Third-Party Organizations Verify the Results.

Microsoft said “Early Prototypes” will be ready for Pilot Programs during the 2020 Elections in the U.S.

The Tech Giant added that it is Prepared for “Significant Deployments” of the Tool in Future Elections.

Microsoft is partnering with Election Tech Companies: Democracy Live, BPro, MicroVote, Voting Works, Election Systems & Software (ES&S) and Hart InterCivic, to Integrate the ElectionGuard Tool into their Systems.

The Software is Not meant to Replace Paper Ballots, Microsoft said, nor is it intended to Support Internet Voting; instead, it is “a new tool for use by the existing election community and government entities that run elections.”

Election Security has come under Renewed Scrutiny following the Release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Report on Russian Interference in the 2016 Presidential Election. There are also Heightened concerns that many Election Systems are Vulnerable to Hacking heading into 2020.

Other Tools

A New $10 Million Contract the Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has Launched to Design and Build a Secure Voting System that it hopes will be Impervious to Hacking.

The first-of-its-kind System will be Designed by an Oregon-based Firm called Galois, a Longtime Government Contractor with experience in designing Secure and Verifiable Systems. The System will use fully Open Source Voting Software, instead of the Closed, Proprietary Software currently used in the vast Majority of Voting Machines, which no one outside of Voting Machine Testing Labs can Examine.

More importantly, it will be built on Secure Open Source Hardware, made from Secure Designs and Techniques developed over the last year as part of a Special Program at DARPA. The Voting System will also be Designed to Create fully Verifiable and Transparent Results so that Voters don’t have to Blindly Trust that the Machines and Election Officials delivered Correct Results.

The Systems Galois Designs won’t be available for Sale. But the Prototypes it Creates will be Available for Existing Voting Machine Vendors or others to freely Adopt and Customize without Costly Licensing Fees or the Millions of Dollars it would take to Research and Develop a Secure system from Scratch.










NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker