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To Prevent Hacking, Ohio's Voting Machines Aren't Connected To The Internet

Jay LaPrete
/
Associated Press

When you hear about hackers, you might picture someone sitting at a computer remotely breaking in. But Ohio’s voting machines are not connected to the internet, and neither are the tabulation devices. 

Some national elections experts have been issuing warnings about the potential for voting machines to be hacked. But elections officials in Ohio want to make sure voters understand what that really means. 

Aaron Ockerman, with the Ohio Association of Election Officials, says election security is a very real issue that they’ve been preparing for.

“Disinformation, or misinformation, or foreign actors trying to kind of insert themselves into the political dialogue, but we really haven’t seen necessarily attempts to infiltrate the vote totals or vote outcomes,” Ockerman says.

Each county locks their voting machines in a secure room that can only be opened with two keys, held by one Democrat official and one Republican official.

But while most counties use electronic machines with paper trails, there are groups who still say the most secure form of voting is through paper ballots.

Gabe Rosenberg joined WOSU in October 2016. As digital news editor, Gabe reports breaking news and edits all content for the WOSU website, as well as manages the station's social media accounts.
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