LAA Helps Secure Another Victory Against “Black Box” Voting Equipment in Stark County, Ohio

[The Tradesman]

Source; https://lookaheadamerica.org/stark2/

Yesterday, the Stark County Commissioners voted to reject proceeding with the purchase of black box voting equipment. This follows Look Ahead America’s public call to action against proceeding with this purchase on February 3.

LAA Executive Director Matt Braynard issued the following statement:

I am grateful to the elected officials of Stark County for heeding the calls to press the ‘pause’ button on proceeding with this purchase, and am even more grateful to the many citizens of Stark County for making their voices heard.

The next step for Stark County is the need for public hearings on the dangers of black box voting equipment and the benefits of open-source alternatives for restoring faith in election integrity, lowering costs, and growing local jobs.

This is the second recent major victory for Look Ahead America’s effort to eliminate black box voting equipment following the state of Louisiana’s withdrawal of a $100 million contract for black box equipment last week.

Stark County Board of Elections can be reached as follows: Bill Smith at 330.451.7359 or [e-mail]; Janet Weir Creighton at 330.451.7376 or [e-mail]; Richard Regula at 330.451.7370 or [e-mail].

Find LAA’s original statement on Stark County’s proposed purchase here: https://lookaheadamerica.org/stark/.

WHAT IS “BLACK BOX” VOTING EQUIPMENT? Black box voting equipment runs on software and hardware design that is a corporate secret. The source code of the software is generally unavailable for public and government official inspection. Black box voting equipment also locks a client into using only the original manufacturer for service of that equipment.

WHAT IS OPEN SOURCE? Open source is software or hardware with source code or a design that anyone can inspect, modify, and enhance. Learn more about open source here: https://opensource.com/resources/what-open-source.

MATT BRAYNARD is the former Director of Data and Strategy for the Trump campaign. He drafted and executed the strategy of targeting low-propensity voters who had a high affinity for President Trump. He is the president of Braynard Group, a political and digital strategy firm. He has worked for over one hundred federal, state and municipal candidates, and many national advocacy organizations and non-profits. He previously worked on messaging and survey research for Frank Luntz, was a senior redistricting and election administration analyst at Election Data Services, and served for three election cycles in the Republican National Committee’s Political Analysis department. Prior to joining the RNC in 1996, Matt was a field coordinator for Buchanan for President.

A PDF of this press release is available here: LAA_PressRelease_Stark2.