The Division of Elections said last week it would release information by Tuesday that shows how the voters who ranked Sarah Palin first ranked Nick Begich and Mary Peltola on their ballots, and how the voters for Congresswoman-elect Mary Peltola ranked Begich and Palin.
Tuesday passed with no data released.
Then it was going to be Wednesday. Now, it may be Thursday or Friday before that information is released to the public. Or perhaps not this year — it’s difficult to know.
The special primary election, Alaska’s first experiment with ranked choice voting, took place Aug. 16. The ranking exercise to determine the ultimate winner — Peltola — took place Aug. 31.
Within seconds on Aug. 31, those second-round votes were available for the Begich votes. It was done with a push of a button on the Elections Division computer. Those numbers for the other races are in that same machine.
But now, the Division of Elections can’t seem to do the same for the Peltola and Palin second-round votes, greatly disadvantaging both the Palin campaign and the Begich campaign, who rightfully should be able to determine where their support was from those who chose the other two candidates.
Must Read Alaska will file a public records request for that information on Thursday before the close of business, presuming the Division of Elections does not release that information, which the public has a clear and compelling reason to have and which effects the November election and the decisions being made now by campaigns who are entitled to have all the data from the Aug. 16 elections in a timely way.
Before the second choices of the Begich voters were distributed, the second choices of the write-in voters were doled out. They went 1252 to Begich, 617 to Palin and 954 to Peltola.
The Dunleavy administration should be ashamed. No good excuse for delayed data. The fact that we have to wait weeks to begin with is evidence that malfeasance is afoot.
You scan votes into a machine and it takes weeks to find out the result?!?!?!
Scrap the machines. Hand-counts from here on out.
Is that really the best you can do – trot out the old rigged voting machine thing? Can’t you at least come up with something original? Hilarious Pavlovian behavior.
Count by hand all you want. You’ll still get the same results. Dominion will win their lawsuit and end up owning Fox. The suits and talent there are sweating.
I’m tired of hearing about Dominion. Especially by the losing side.
This is a blue state, people need to accept it and deal.
However: there clearly is widespread mistrust in the Dominion system almost everywhere it’s use. Why not return to hand counting if it gives more legitimacy to the outcome?
Especially if you think the results will be the same.
I do agree with OP in regard the count to report time is way too long. Regardless of method used.
Alaska is not becoming a blue state. Republicans outnumber Democrats 3 to one. The last Democrat to be elected statewide was in ’08.
What ! Who told you it’s a Blue State – The Machines ?
Elections need to be clean, and need to be recognized as clean. Having machines connected to the web leaves all sorts of room for hi-jinx, real and imagined. I’ve not heard a good argument against hand counting. Counting speed? that’s laughable!
They aren’t connected to the internet so no worries there. every time the idea of Dominion machines being hooked up the web is trotted out, there’s zero evidence provided for it. It’s like Giuliani side, “we have lots of theories, we just don’t have the evidence.” Keep trying though.
Respectfully I beg to differ, each machine has a a modem that is used after the close of the voting day to transmit results via wi-fi. See DOE instructions for poll workers under Precinct scanner, transmitting results.
The problem with RCV is, you CAN NOT hand-count. While the first round would be okay, subsequent rounds would be a nightmare to do by hand and take forever. This was clearly designed to demand reliance on an algorithm, where results were impossible to verify by other means in a timely manner.
What’s to hide if it’s such a wonderful system?…unless
Andy, your ….”unless” sounds scary.
I’m actually impressed that there wasn’t an anti-Palin article today… yet
The day is young. -sd
Zing! Ahahahahahahahaha!
We know. We have been watching all the paid-for adds you have been running and who they have been supporting. We don’t mind your making money, it’s just that what you are selling with some of those adds has the same effect as crack or meth……
Suzanne is having imagination problems today….
Sarah doesn’t really love you.
Sarah loves Sarah. This is damn near Jim Jones territory.
Gee Whizz! Really? Good Golly that twists my knickers, shucks. You’ve ruined my day Mr. Chance.
I hear she’s still stuck on that fat mouthy radio guy.
How’s this: the latest voting count shows Sarah tied with the Holy Spirit for the final spot in the Trinity.
She then held a press conference to demand Jesus pull out of the race and to stop walking on her lake.
Our Lt. Governor, whose job it is to oversee our elections, needs to get off his butt and light a fire under the Division of Elections! That is the least he can do. This is not a good optic for the present administration.
And we still believe that Peltola actually won????
I am quite interested in this data.
It didn’t seem quite cricket that the public is allowed to know exactly how fickle and left-leaning Begich voters turned out to be – while leaving similar information regarding Palin voters hidden.
My gut feeling is that Palin voters are more conservative, more heavily drawn from the MAGA camp – and far less likely to betray our side to the Democrats. We will hopefully see if the facts bear this theory out.
Still, after witnessing ‘Team Begich’ voters defect in large numbers and hand the special election to the Democrats – Palin voters will be in no mood to rank Begich again. My guess? There will be a large increase in Palin supporters bullet voting or outright supporting Peltola. After all, we know what they say about ‘Traitors before Enemies’.
Hardly call myself left leaning. Anyone who voted Sarah one hasn’t done any homework because was just as bad or worse than Walker as Governor. She had liberals writing her policies and she backed Walker. Duh, wake up! Oh, and she quit to go make talk show money to boot. She didn’t know that ALASKA had changed to rcv when asked about it, so where exactly was she living?
Palin was unvaccinated and will support prohibiting both the government AND the private sector from hiring/firing based on your willingness to share private medical records. Regulate corporations? IMO, if medical privacy protections are good enough for homosexuals with HIV – it should be good enough for the rest of us. Sticking it in the wrong place shouldn’t confer special rights at the workplace.
On the other hand, Nick meekly got in line and was vaccinated like a sheep just as the Biden Administration directed. He appears to be content to allow the private sector to police citizens’ vaccination status – as his only statements on the subject are specifically directed at the government mandates.
Sorry, I want a right wing fighter, not a go-along, get along moderate.
Apu – Exactly! You nailed it!
I have a strong suspicion that some Begich voters were low information, out of touch Democrats with no clue, who were voting for the Begich name. Thus they were putting Peltola as second. I have no proof, just a suspicion. 🙂
I think you got that backwards.
Is there any part of our state government that isn’t corrupt?
State OR Federal.
All are corrupt.
You know what? Time too clean the elections! Bullish crap! I can count faster with fingers and toes with a 1 vote! Stop moving the votes with you algebra figures of dumping here snd there!
What does the state expect, anything better when the workers are hesitating democrats just like a democrat driving- hesitating too long leading to a line-up to a fender bender. Government work hasn’t been good for many, made people and the production of work slow.
Palin is the only Republican in the state who can cause a Republican to vote for a Democrat. What a self-absorbed moron she is.
CLEARLY(!!!) … One of the Pubs needs to drop out and quit splitting the Pub vote, as AK deserves much better than what Peltola will ever bring to the table. Flip a coin, draw straws, or go to the parking lot (winner takes all). Otherwise, Peltola walks in.
Apu Apustaja, Interesting analysis above.
I wonder however if your gut feeling has accounted for the previous traitorous
behavior displayed by Sarah Palin? You know, Sarah’s endorsement of Billy Boy Walker for example. What influence did that Bat Sh#t crazy decision coming from Ms. Palin have upon some ?
In the meantime, you might consider stepping away from the Palin Kool- Aid Counter!
Elections are a sham with results baked into the computer software. It’s foolish to keep voting and expecting different results. The ruling elite only have the appearance of legitimacy, the reality is they have lost the consent of the people to rule.
If this is a critical issue moving forward it is up to the legislature to codify. The State DOE is proceeding based on current laws and rules. Attacking DOE employees for doing their jobs is not helpful
Frank, the issue here is that DOE made promises to release data at a certain time and failed to deliver. Since the program is computerized it should not take forever to get the information. If they are unable to provide said info, then they should have made that clear and not over-promised. Now it just looks like capricious manipulation.
They aren’t doing their jobs if it takes this long to count and report ballots.
Apply this same work ethic to your job (unless state worker or teacher union) and you’ll be out of said job.
Frank – there is no reason for the DOE to be slow walking the release of Peltola voters ranking data. Especially when DOE just rolled out a new and very controversial voting protocol. Every day that the DOE stonewalls will only increase the amount of suspicion that some voters have in this election’s legitimacy. If our Lt. Governor won’t step in, then Gov. Dunleavy must!
ICS Advisory (ICSA-22-154-01)
Vulnerabilities Affecting Dominion Voting Systems ImageCast X
Original release date: June 03, 2022
2.2.1 IMPROPER VERIFICATION OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC SIGNATURE CWE-347
The tested version of ImageCast X does not validate application signatures to a trusted root certificate. Use of a trusted root certificate ensures software installed on a device is traceable to, or verifiable against, a cryptographic key provided by the manufacturer to detect tampering. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to install malicious code, which could also be spread to other vulnerable ImageCast X devices via removable media.
CVE-2022-1739 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.2 MUTABLE ATTESTATION OR MEASUREMENT REPORTING DATA CWE-1283
The tested version of ImageCast X’s on-screen application hash display feature, audit log export, and application export functionality rely on self-attestation mechanisms. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to disguise malicious applications on a device.
CVE-2022-1740 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.3 HIDDEN FUNCTIONALITY CWE-912
The tested version of ImageCast X has a Terminal Emulator application which could be leveraged by an attacker to gain elevated privileges on a device and/or install malicious code.
CVE-2022-1741 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.4 IMPROPER PROTECTION OF ALTERNATE PATH CWE-424
The tested version of ImageCast X allows for rebooting into Android Safe Mode, which allows an attacker to directly access the operating system. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges on a device and/or install malicious code.
CVE-2022-1742 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.5 PATH TRAVERSAL: ‘../FILEDIR’ CWE-24
The tested version of ImageCast X can be manipulated to cause arbitrary code execution by specially crafted election definition files. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to spread malicious code to ImageCast X devices from the EMS.
2.2.6 EXECUTION WITH UNNECESSARY PRIVILEGES CWE-250
Applications on the tested version of ImageCast X can execute code with elevated privileges by exploiting a system level service. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges on a device and/or install malicious code.
CVE-2022-1744 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.7 AUTHENTICATION BYPASS BY SPOOFING CWE-290
The authentication mechanism used by technicians on the tested version of ImageCast X is susceptible to forgery. An attacker with physical access may use this to gain administrative privileges on a device and install malicious code or perform arbitrary administrative actions.
CVE-2022-1745 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.8 INCORRECT PRIVILEGE ASSIGNMENT CWE-266
The authentication mechanism used by poll workers to administer voting using the tested version of ImageCast X can expose cryptographic secrets used to protect election information. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to gain access to sensitive information and perform privileged actions, potentially affecting other election equipment.
CVE-2022-1746 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
2.2.9 ORIGIN VALIDATION ERROR CWE-346
The authentication mechanism used by voters to activate a voting session on the tested version of ImageCast X is susceptible to forgery. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to print an arbitrary number of ballots without authorization.
CVE-2022-1747 has been assigned to this vulnerability.
3. MITIGATIONS
CISA recommends election officials continue to take and further enhance defensive measures to reduce the risk of exploitation of these vulnerabilities. Specifically, for each election, election officials should:
• Contact Dominion Voting Systems to determine which software and/or firmware updates need to be applied. Dominion Voting Systems reports to CISA that the above vulnerabilities have been addressed in subsequent software versions.
• Ensure all affected devices are physically protected before, during, and after voting.
• Ensure compliance with chain of custody procedures throughout the election cycle.
• Ensure that ImageCast X and the Election Management System (EMS) are not connected to any external (i.e., Internet accessible) networks.
• Ensure carefully selected protective and detective physical security measures (for example, locks and tamper-evident seals) are implemented on all affected devices, including on connected devices such as printers and connecting cables.
• Close any background application windows on each ImageCast X device.
• Use read-only media to update software or install files onto ImageCast X devices.
• Use separate, unique passcodes for each poll worker card.
• Ensure all ImageCast X devices are subjected to rigorous pre- and post-election testing.
• Disable the “Unify Tabulator Security Keys” feature on the election management system and ensure new cryptographic keys are used for each election.
• As recommended by Dominion Voting Systems, use the supplemental method to validate hashes on applications, audit log exports, and application exports.
• Encourage voters to verify the human-readable votes on printout.
• Conduct rigorous post-election tabulation audits of the human-readable portions of physical ballots and paper records, to include reviewing ballot chain of custody and conducting voter/ballot reconciliation procedures. These activities are especially crucial to detect attacks where the listed vulnerabilities are exploited such that a barcode is manipulated to be tabulated inconsistently with the human-readable portion of the paper ballot. (NOTE: If states and jurisdictions so choose, the ImageCast X provides the configuration option to produce ballots that do not print barcodes for tabulation.)
Almost a month now & still no release of Peltola’s voting data! That is absolutely incredible! Is it incompetence or a clumsy attempt at election meddling?
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