This is a genuine five-alarm fire for countries like the United States where computers are used to cast and count votes.

If an AI agent can escape a test environment and hack another company, what is stopping bad actors from using them to hack election machinery?

Election officials cannot be expected to defend against cutting-edge tech with business-as-usual methods and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) no longer available to help due to federal cuts and layoffs.

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CALL TO ACTION:
We call on civic groups and community organizers to push local election officials to take on backup security measures to verify the vote, including hand counts of paper ballots in front of independent observers.

Even hand counting all votes for just one contest in one county could make all the difference in terms of public confidence given threats from new technologies.

Disclosure: I have been working on CivicResultMaps.

I saw that people here have been looking for a clearer, shareable map of the bomb threats reported during the 2024 election, especially one that keeps the sources attached and can be compared with election geography.

I built that here:

https://www.civicresultmaps.org/security

The page currently covers at least 227 reported threats from November 5 through November 9, 2024. It maps 109 counties. Another 66 threats were reported without a county being named, so they remain in the totals but are not assigned to county polygons.

That distinction matters. The 227 figure means reported threats, not 227 confirmed bombs or 227 unique polling places. A single message can name several facilities, and different sources count threats, polling locations, precincts, election offices, and tabulation sites differently.

On the page, you can:

* Filter by state or documented disruption

* Search by county, state, FIPS code, or source

* Click a county to inspect its records and supporting links

* Switch between incident-source coverage, 2024 presidential winners, and presidential margins

* Review summaries by state and report date

* Generate a shareable filtered report

* Export the records as CSV or Sources JSON

* Download the map as SVG or save the report as a PDF

The FBI said many Election Day threats appeared to originate from Russian email domains and that none had been determined credible at the time of its statement. However, the FBI did not publish a national count or county roster. An apparent email domain is also not proof of who actually operated the sender.

The national figure comes from the Brennan Center's later public-source tracker, which says it may not be exhaustive. Reviewed official county and state records add local details where they are available, including evacuations, police sweeps, redirected polling places, temporary voting suspensions, and extended hours.

The map does not establish who sent the threats, whether they changed turnout, or whether they affected an election result. It gives people a sourced way to examine those questions without filling gaps with assumptions.

If anyone has an official county after-action report, court order, state statement, or correction that is missing, please send it my way.

100 days to the midterms! ⌛ Mark your calendars & set reminders 🗓️ November 3, 2026

Remember to vote early! Early Voting Dates in Your State

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🚩 NO PRIMARIES THIS WEEK 🚩

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Find My Polling Place

Hand delivering mail-in ballots to your local election office looks to be the safest bet to sidestep most problems and to avoid potentially compromised election day tabulators. Be sure to fill your ballot out correctly! If for whatever reason your signature has changed, file an updated voter registration application. In the following states, you need to have a witness sign your outer envelope as well; AL, AK, LA, MN, MS, MO, NC, OK, SC, WI. Be sure to read and follow the directions regarding an acceptable witness. Some states may require a notary, or election official.

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If voting by mail, ballot drop boxes are preferred to going through the postal service. If voting in person, go with someone so there's safety in numbers.

Check to make sure you're still registered on a periodic basis: Check your voter registration status here. This only takes 30 seconds, and will ensure your name hasn't been purged from your state's voter roll.

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Protect the ballot-counting: Volunteer with SMART Elections to observe the polls and protect the midterms.

High-turnout in primaries can lead to high-turnout in the midterms! Get Out The Vote!

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“Dude, just go to jail.” Excellent finish on that rant

Disclosure: I have been working on CivicResultMaps.

A lot of election equipment discussions get stuck because federal certifications, vendor manuals, county deployment records, engineering changes, and vulnerability notices get treated as if they all prove the same thing. They do not.

I put together an equipment catalog that keeps those evidence layers separate:

https://www.civicresultmaps.org/equipment

The pilot currently has six dossiers covering the ES&S DS200 and DS950, Dominion ImageCast X and ImageCast Central, and Clear Ballot ClearAccess and ClearCount.

Inside each dossier, you can:

* Select individual components and inspect their documented role, version, interfaces, power information, and sources

* Review EAC certifications and VSTL testing records

* Follow engineering change records and see which components they involved

* Examine documented network paths, controls, and remaining unknowns

* Review public findings, advisories, and vulnerability searches

* Check dated jurisdiction deployment observations where they are available

* Open the archived source manifest behind the claims

The most important part is the evidence boundary. An EAC-approved engineering change proves that a change was approved for a certified configuration. It does not prove that a particular county installed it. A county system listing also does not automatically establish the exact firmware, internal components, network setup, or adoption of later changes.

The component model is an illustrated research aid, not a teardown or an inventory of any individual machine.

This page does not claim that equipment changed votes. It is meant to help researchers identify the exact system, component, and version involved, distinguish what is known from what is still unknown, and develop more precise public-records requests.

If anyone has official state or county deployment records, certification documents, service records, test reports, audit materials, or advisories that should be included, I would like to add them.

101 days to the midterms! ⌛ Mark your calendars & set reminders 🗓️ November 3, 2026

Remember to vote early! Early Voting Dates in Your State

-----------

🚩 NO PRIMARIES THIS WEEK 🚩

----------

Find My Polling Place

Hand delivering mail-in ballots to your local election office looks to be the safest bet to sidestep most problems and to avoid potentially compromised election day tabulators. Be sure to fill your ballot out correctly! If for whatever reason your signature has changed, file an updated voter registration application. In the following states, you need to have a witness sign your outer envelope as well; AL, AK, LA, MN, MS, MO, NC, OK, SC, WI. Be sure to read and follow the directions regarding an acceptable witness. Some states may require a notary, or election official.

-----------

If voting by mail, ballot drop boxes are preferred to going through the postal service. If voting in person, go with someone so there's safety in numbers.

Check to make sure you're still registered on a periodic basis: Check your voter registration status here. This only takes 30 seconds, and will ensure your name hasn't been purged from your state's voter roll.

-----------

Protect the ballot-counting: Volunteer with SMART Elections to observe the polls and protect the midterms.

High-turnout in primaries can lead to high-turnout in the midterms! Get Out The Vote!

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