Trump's order could force states to buy costly new voting machines

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: Washington Post

Trump’s order could force states to buy costly new voting machines

Story by Patrick Marley, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez • 8h

{snip picture}

President Donald Trump’s plan to overhaul elections could hurl 2026 into turmoil by forcing states to hand-count ballots or scramble to spend millions of dollars on voting systems that aren’t yet on the market, according to election officials and voting experts.

If put into effect, his recent executive order attempting to transform elections could make it impossible for some states to use voting machines, election experts said. No voting systems are commercially available that meet the standards the president put forward in his executive order. Election officials broadly oppose hand-counting ballots as an alternative because the practice is time-consuming and prone to errors.

If Trump’s plan ever comes to fruition, it could hit taxpayers hard. Outfitting every state with new machines could cost $1 billion or more.

“It will create chaos in the states, and it seems almost designed to create chaos,” said David Becker, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and Research.

{snip}

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/04/13/trump-elections-voting-machines-ballots/

---

Alternate link:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-s-order-could-force-states-to-buy-costly-new-voting-machines/ar-AA1CPivo

[Karadeniz]

1. He wants machines the gop can rig....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. He may get the handcounting that he can't rig. . . . . nt

[Karadeniz]

10. Id like to make handcounting required, but its in the hands of the states. Maybe

GOP states could petition it on the next election....

[Bernardo de La Paz]

14. One solution: both approaches

Optical scanned ballots for a fast count that people (impatiently unwisely) want.

Then more slowly hand count the ballots to satisfy whatever legal requirements survive challenges to tRump's dictat.

[MichMan]

2. Why are so many in favor of hand counting ballots if it is time consuming and prone to errors ?

[RandomNumbers]

4. Hand-COUNTABLE ballots are a good thing.

The proper approach is hand-countABLE, optically scanned ballots.

The optical scanning is done right away. Counts are available very quickly.

The CORRECT approach - as far as I can tell, not well followed - is a random audit of a certain per cent of precincts, meaning that some precincts are hand-counted AFTER the official count is reported. The audit results are compared with the reported optical scan results for those precincts. If there is a difference found between the hand count and the machine count, then an investigation is triggered and potentially more precincts should be audited.

This is how you can have quick results but also have the ability to do a reliable audit.

Funding for a certain audit level should be guaranteed by state budgets. Just like corporations set aside funds to do internal audits.

It is explained better here.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

6. Because US ballots are so complicated. Should be three ballots and three boxes

National: Prez, Reps, Senators. Count those first. Would get the national election over before midnight ET.

State: Gov, Reps, Senators, other state offices. Second.

Everything else: county, municipal, amendments, initiatives, and referenda.

[MichMan]

15. If they don't end up in the right box, then what?

Three separate elections on different days, or all at once with three different ballots ?

[Bernardo de La Paz]

16. No, one day. Any in the wrong box will be minimal and will get sorted out in due course

Plus, wrong-boxed ballots can be expected to be in almost the same proportions of the correct-box ballots so results would not be expected to change except in extremely rare and very close races, the kind which would go to recount anyway.

[stillcool]

7. same reason why that is how recounts are done

if they can be done.
https://www.brennancenter.org/

Recommendations to Defend America’s Election Infrastructure
https://www.brennancenter.org/election-security
Require paper ballots. Paper ballots create a tangible record of a voter’s choices that the voter can review, prior to casting the ballot, to ensure it accurately captures their intent. These records can then be used by election officials to discover any errors in the voting tabulation system, and ultimately ensure that total election results were recorded correctly. All voting systems should use paper ballots in order to make effective auditing and confirmation of results feasible.

Ban wireless components. Wireless components that permit connections to WiFi networks, cellular networks, or other devices, via Bluetooth or other protocol, pose an unnecessary risk of malware being implanted in this equipment, unbeknownst to election administrators. Wireless components should be prohibited in voting systems that record and tabulate votes. Voting system components that do not tabulate votes should limit wireless connectivity only to instances necessary for accessibility.

Implement robust post-election audits. Replacing paperless voting machines is not enough on its own to ensure accurate election results—election officials must use these paper ballots to conduct rigorous and routine post-election audits that are designed to provide a high level of statistical confidence of the correct outcome. We recommend the regular use of risk-limiting audits. Risk-limiting audits provide confidence in election outcomes because they limit the risk that a voting system error or hack significant enough to affect the outcome of an election will go undiscovered. A sample of ballots is examined by hand and compared to the results recorded by the voting system to look for discrepancies. For contests with large reported margins of victory, a smaller sample is required to reduce the risk of error than for contests with small reported margins of victory. Therefore, risk-limiting audits can be performed on a regular basis, unlike costly full hand recounts.

[underpants]

9. Great response below yours. It sounds better

Once they get a talking point, regardless of its grasp on reality, they go with it.

[GoreWon2000]

21. Machine counting in Florida 2000

was not accurate because it left uncounted about 300,000 votes mostly located in the largest and most heavily democratic voting counties in Florida. Florida election law in 2000 allowed for the hand duplication and counting of ballots that the counting machines could not read. It was the repug Rehnquist 5 who violated the U.S. constitution which clearly gives the states the right to conduct elections by taking away Florida's right to conduct an election who stopped the legal Florida vote count. This is how we got tRump. . tRump's elections overhaul is also unconstitutional because it also takes away the states rights to conduct elections that is specifically given to states in the U.S. constitution.

[SWBTATTReg]

3. Interfering w/ state's rights in running elections. I don't think this will stand up in court.

[slightlv]

19. He's trying in all sorts of ways to interfere with state's rights

in running elections... and registration for election. I guess he could make his edicts for Federal elections only, but then you would need to have at least two different ballots - one for fed and one for state, county, etc. I don't think he's gonna like that, either. He really wants to devise a way where he and other republicans can cheat and not get caught. Their ultimate goal is no democrat elected to office at any point in the future. Didn't FL actually try to outlaw the democratic party at one point last year... or the year before that? Memory marbles are tumbling around the memory. But these repugs are serious. They never want to relinquish power again. And you can see some repugs getting worried about another 40 years in the desert like it was after nixon. They not only do not want that to happen again, they want to ensure no democrats can get into office and begin to set right what they've spent his hurried amount of time screwing up. IOW, you WILL welcome your overlords and bow down to them for all time - signed repugs and oligarchs.

[Fiendish Thingy]

8. His order will not stand

If, for some reason, the courts do not strike it down, expect multiple states to ignore the order.

[Evolve Dammit]

11. Didn't Ivanka patent a brand of voting machines in China??? Are they coming here now?

[RandomNumbers]

12. Explanation here

https://verifiedvoting.org/blog-executive-order-apr-2025/

I skimmed the WaPo article but I don't think it is as clear as the VV.org article about it.

To be clear, voter-verified hand countable ballots are a GOOD thing. But I don't trust ANYTHING that comes from TSF, and I of course suspect ulterior motives in this un-meetable executive order.

[Mustellus]

13. Actually... Trump shot the R's in their feet...

One kind of voting machine ( Smartmatic? Dominion? the ones that R's are frantic to ban... ) accepts your choices, and then prints out a complete, human readable ballot. This is scanned and counted by test grading machines borrowed from your local college. All steps are confirmed by the voter. You could also count these by hand.

Here in Ohio, and I'm sure other places, we use FraudiTronic voting machines. You make your choices on the screen, and when you approve the ballot, its printed on a flimsy paper tape, along with a QR code. Its also stored in the machine's memory chip. The counting is done off the memory chip, and if a recount is needed, off the QR code on the paper tape. The two things that are counted: the memory chip and the QR code, can't be verified by the voter. Faith Based Voting is here!

But you can't count these by hand!

Also.. since there is a small microcomputer, the possibilities of fraud are endless. Flip 10% of votes for Trump? No problem, just don't let the voter see it. Memory chip and QR code only. Then, when the election is over, the computer erases the corrupt code, and substitutes the honest code it should have been using. No evidence....

[The Wizard]

17. The Constitution says the States

administer elections.

[Bayard]

18. This has Leon Musk's stench all over it

Some software that he's come up will be required usage, or his DOGE kids will be doing the vote counting and re-counts.

I think his software slight of hand is why we were stuck with trump.

[slightlv]

20. THIS! x 1000 for me, Bayard!