Scandalous! Four Counties with MASSIVE violations of elections equipment

An investigation by SD Canvassing and Rick Weible into county election equipment reveals ES&S has provided un-certified election management system laptops to unsuspecting counties since 2018.

Minnehaha, Lincoln, Davison and Pennington Counties are the only four counties that purchased and use the ES&S Election Management System running their software suite called Electionware, which is necessary to decrypt and view the cast vote records (CVRs), ballot images, audit logs, and to run proper reports for auditing purposes. The 62 other South Dakota counties continue to use highly sophisticated election equipment with no way of viewing the digital audit trail they produce.

Election vendors submit their systems to the United States Election Assistance Commission for testing and approval. All ES&S approved systems can be found on the EAC website. https://www.eac.gov/voting-equipment/certified-voting-systems

Vendors are required to submit Engineering Change Orders (ECO’s) if any modification is made to the system. The EAC then issues approved ECO’s and posts them to their website.

Per South Dakota law, only certified equipment may be used in counties statewide.

12-17B-2. Requirements for automatic tabulating, electronic ballot marking, and election voting equipment systems--Approval of changes or modifications.

Any automatic tabulating or electronic ballot marking system used in an election shall enable the voter to cast a vote for all offices and on all measures on which the voter is entitled to vote. No automatic tabulating, electronic ballot marking, or election voting equipment system may be connected to the internet. No ballot marking device may save or tabulate votes marked on any system. Each system shall fulfill the requirements for election assistance commission standards certification and be approved by the State Board of Elections prior to distribution and use in this state. No system may be approved unless the system fulfills the requirements as established by the State Board of Elections. Any changes or modifications to an approved system shall be approved by the State Board of Elections prior to distribution and use.

We sent public records request to Minnehaha, Lincoln, Davison and Pennington Counties for the invoices for their EMS laptops. What we found was shocking.

All four counties have purchased and been using UN-CERTIFIED laptops for use as their EMS stations running Electionware software.

Davison County has been leasing an un-certified Dell computer from Tech Solutions since 2018.

Lincoln County purchased and has been using an un-certified Dell computer since 2020.

Pennington County purchased and has been using an uncertified Dell computer since 2020.

Minnehaha County had purchased and been using an un-certified HP computer since 2019 and had sent it to ES&S to upgrade software in 2022. Auditor Leah Anderson ordered a new EMS workstation from ES&S in 2024, but they sent the county yet another un-certified Dell laptop. Anderson questioned ES&S on the un-certified laptop and allegedly ES&S claimed they didn’t have any certified models available.

Anderson put out a press release, however the un-certified model was used in the 2024 primary and general elections. You may remember Joe Kippley demanding the county use the machines in one of his countless tyrades against the auditor and concerned citizens. ES&S stopped communicating with Anderson and on-site support was also withdrawn for the primary and general elections.

HUGE NEWS in Minnehaha County

Per South Dakota state law, all elections conducted in the four counties since the purchase of the laptops have been unlawful, uncertifiable, and all results should be considered unreliable.

Wait, it gets worse.

From the invoices we obtained, Davison and Minnehaha laptops were shipped with built in wifi or bluetooth capabilities. The Dell 5540 for Minnehaha shows on the invoice a dual-band wireless card, and the 65XB0R2 for Davison County also shows (in Dell Support) an Intel M.2. 9560AC wifi/bluetooth card.

These are supposedly the “hardened” stand alone workstations that are NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE ANY INTERNET CONNECTIVITY. How many times have we heard “the systems are air-gapped”? The models certified by the EAC are approved because they DO NOT possess any internet capability. Which begs the question, why would ES&S send internet capable, un-certified laptop models to a state they’ve been doing business with for 20 years and they damn well know ONLY certified equipment may be used in South Dakota elections?

Not connected to the internet? How do they KNOW?? Who can PROVE IT?

No automatic tabulating, electronic ballot marking, or election voting equipment system may be connected to the internet.

From an affidavit recently created by Rick Weible:

I am aware that ES&S publishes a notice in its Election Management System manuals a United States Election Assistance Commission Notification for Approved Voting Systems, that states “In accordance with the United States Election Assistance Commission (EAC) Testing and Certification Program Manual, Version 2.0, ES&S hereby notifies the purchaser that any changes or modifications to an EAC approved voting system which have not been tested and certified by the EAC will void the EAC certification for such EAC approved voting system.”

(Formal complaints and affidavits will be made public at a future date.)

The South Dakota State Board of Elections certified the state election systems to EVS 6.1.0.0 and 6.1.1.0. Both of those EAC certifications specifically list approved EMS workstations and neither list any of the laptops currently in use in South Dakota.

Why would ES&S send noncompliant equipment to South Dakota election officials?

Was ES&S acting in good faith by sending noncompliant equipment to a state that requires only certified equipment?

Why didn’t the county auditors discover they were using non-certified laptops?

Why didn’t ES&S submit an engineering change order when Leah Anderson brought the issue to their attention?

What good are certifications and state laws when they aren’t followed or enforced?

The State Board of Elections “certifies” equipment, but never even tested the EMS sytems, and apparently have no way of ensuring compliance or having any way of ensuring all county equipment is actually EAC certified.

Why did the South Dakota State Legislature surrender their Constitutional authority over state elections to an unelected, unqualified, unaccountable board of bureaucrats?

#ABOLISHTHEBOE

Could this be a conspiracy to defraud the People of South Dakota of fair and legal elections at the hands of a private corporation, enacted by county officials and election board members unqualified to secure highly sophisticated computerized elections, conducted on unlawful and uncertified equipment, with no one the wiser since at least 2018?

It’s no coincidence that four of the largest counties in South Dakota are brazenly flouting uncertified election computers, defying state law and obliterating the sacred trust of every voter, while simultaneously claiming their systems are air gapped and are EAC certified! This isn’t a mere oversight by this bureaucratic monstrosity of do nothings; it’s a deliberate, explosive assault on safe, secure, and transparent elections!

At the epicenter of this outrage stands the South Dakota State Board of Elections, whose deafening silence and gutless inaction scream complicity. Their failure to UNDERSTAND and enforce certification standards isn’t just negligence; it’s a betrayal that demands criminal accountability! Rick Weible filed five complaints with the BOE that were just ignored and dismissed. It’s well past time the BOE is abolished, and the State Legislature reclaims their Constitutional authority over the elections, as they are the only ones granted that authority through the Constitution, and are the real representatives of the People who elect them.

For four years, the fearless patriots at South Dakota Canvassing have sounded the alarm, exposing dozens of egregious violations with ironclad evidence, only to be ignored, rebuked, and viciously chastised by the Board and their cabal of election fraud deniers while the Secretary of State sits there with a perma-grin of incompetence watching the charade unfold at every board meeting. Our brave watchdogs have faced a barrage of dismissal and scorn, yet we’ve never wavered in the fight for truth. The people of South Dakota deserve answers, not excuses, and the BOE, County Auditors and County Commissions must face real accountability for yet another massive violation of state election law.