By Christian Smith-Socaris
Progressive States Network

Political corruption and vote buying have been alleged in Clay County, Kentucky for decades.  In an effort to counteract that tradition, the Department of Justice has indicted several public officials -- including a judge, the county clerk, the school superintendent and members of the elections board -- for alleged vote buying and election fraud.

According to the indictment, the defendants not only conspired to steal elections the old fashioned way but also exploited a vulnerability in their new ES&S iVotronic paperless voting machines.

The defendants are alleged to have duped voters into leaving the voting booth after they had pressed the "vote" button, which doesn't actually cast the vote, but brings up a review screen where a voter confirms their selections. Once the voter had left the booth, corrupt election workers went in and changed their votes.

This case is significant for a couple reasons. The first is that the major defense used by voting machine vendors regarding the flaws in their products has been that none of the problems have ever resulted in a stolen election. If the DOJ is correct, several elections were likely stolen in Kentucky on electronic machines. 

Second, the fact that using electronic voting machines is confusing enough that a many voter can be tricked into leaving the booth before they have actually cast their ballot is a critical vulnerability in these systems that has not previously been appreciated.

Christian Smith-Socaris is Election Reform Policy Specialist for the Progressive States Network. A version of this story originally appeared in the Network's Stateside Dispatch.