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Fallon County weighs buying tabulators as residents raise security concerns about thumb-drive updates
Summary
Fallon County commissioners paused a decision on whether to buy electronic tabulators after public commenters raised concerns that the machinesthumb-drive updates could create a "backdoor" for remote connections; election staff said the thumb drives require manual handling and the county would still perform hand-count post audits before certifying results.
Commissioners in Fallon County postponed a final decision on buying election tabulators after an extended public discussion about voting-system security and the logistics of adopting new equipment.
During public comment, Terry Mahoney said he wanted the county to check whether the thumb drives used to load ballot formats could be exploited. "The thumb drive itself had its own Ethernet connection... it has a Wi-Fi in the actual thumb drive," Mahoney said, warning that the device could present a "backdoor" into tabulation hardware.
Election staff responded that the vendors currently used deliver a formatted thumb drive that is manually inserted into a hardened counting computer and that the post-audit requirement provides an additional control. "The thumb drive does not" connect to the Internet on its own, an election official said during the meeting. Staff explained that county practice is to run a hand count as a post audit and to certify election results only after that audit is completed.
Why it matters: Commissioners face a near-term timeline tied to a state grant that could cover some of the equipment and to training windows for election judges. Staff gave a preliminary cost estimate for the tabulator option of about $35,000 for the pair of tabulators and related licensing and warranty, plus a hardened laptop for uploading results (staff cited roughly $4,651 for the hardened computer). Commissioners said they must decide at their next meeting whether to proceed with purchase, use HAVA funds or rely on volunteer hand counting.
What commissioners heard: Residents urged the commission to preserve hand counting if the community can supply enough trained volunteers; several speakers suggested recruiting and training more citizen judges as an alternative to buying machines. Election staff said the county was approved for some HAVA funds but had not finalized reimbursement details; they also warned that adopting tabulators requires policy changes and a training schedule that must be completed before the next federal election cycle.
Next steps: Commissioners agreed to carry the item to the following week's agenda for a final decision and urged election staff and community groups to confirm whether volunteers can be trained in time if the county declines the machine purchase. The county will also follow up with vendors about technical safeguards for thumb drives and the Secretary of State's guidance on hardened-computer submission procedures.
