Dominion Voting Systems’ Overseas Operations and Election Security

Despite being headquartered in Denver, Colo., Dominion Voting Systems (DVS) continues to develop its election machine programming in Serbia, Canada, and China in violation of U.S. law. 

Dominion’s office in Belgrade, located at Rankeova 19, has been at the center of controversy as it is reportedly involved in programming the voting machines used in the U.S. The company’s practices have raised significant concerns about the legality and security of these systems.

Critics argue that Dominion’s international operations violate federal laws such as the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), which mandates stringent security controls over federal information systems. Additionally, some concerns allowing foreign entities to develop and access critical election infrastructure contravenes national security protocols.

Despite these concerns, Dominion maintains that its practices are secure. The company asserts that all software development is conducted in-house by DVS employees and is not outsourced to third parties. Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Dominion, emphasized that the software undergoes rigorous review, testing, and certification by federal, state, and local authorities.

However, the presence of overseas developers has fueled ongoing debates about the integrity of the U.S. election systems. Suzanne Mello-Stark, a forensic computer scientist at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and other experts have called for greater transparency in both software and hardware used in voting systems.

Recent job postings for senior software developers in Belgrade and reports of Dominion’s extensive operations in Serbia have raised further concerns. The use of proprietary software by election technology companies, including Dominion, has been criticized for its lack of transparency and potential vulnerabilities.

The situation is complicated further by reports of election systems in multiple states using machines that lack paper backups. Such systems, which include touch-screen voting machines with rewritable flash memory, are particularly susceptible to tampering. Experts like Daniel Lopresti of Lehigh University warn that if the firmware is tampered with, it could be nearly impossible to verify the accuracy of the election results.

The controversy surrounding Dominion is part of a broader debate about election security in the U.S. Recent elections have seen increased concern about potential hacking and the overall security of voting infrastructure, including Nevada, where the state’s highest court has again dismissed a case questioning how Washoe and Clark Counties conduct elections without regarding the evidence. The lack of standardized security measures in the two most populated counties in the state has left other county systems vulnerable to attacks.

Some states are moving towards more secure systems. Maryland, for example, has replaced touch-screen terminals with optical scanners that use paper ballots, offering a verifiable paper trail.