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Are Milwaukee vote tabulation machines connected to the internet?

By Tom Kertscher
NO

Milwaukee ballot tabulation machines are not connected to the internet.

“Tabulation machines are not connected to Wi-Fi and the idle speculation suggesting they are vulnerable is simply incorrect,” Mayor Cavalier Johnson posted on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024.

For years, the city has used flash drives — thumb-size data-storing devices — to transmit results.

Flash drives are cleared and reformatted before being put in sealed envelopes; the process is witnessed and both a Democrat and a Republican are among the observers who certify the process. After all ballots are processed, voting results from the tabulation machines are exported to the flash drives. Witnesses also sign a document certifying the exports.

On Election Day afternoon, election officials restarted the absentee ballot count after an observer noticed panel doors on Milwaukee's 13 tabulators weren’t properly closed.

City election officials said there was no indication any of the tabulators had been tampered with.

This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
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Wisconsin Watch, the news arm of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, increases the quality and quantity of investigative reporting in Wisconsin, while training current and future investigative journalists. Its work fosters an informed citizenry and strengthens democracy.
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