The activists, among them J Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Centre for Computer Security and Society and voting-rights attorney John Bonifaz, told the Clinton campaign they believe there is a questionable trend of the Democratic candidate performing worse in counties that relied on electronic voting machines compared to paper ballots and optical scanners, according to a “source briefed on the call”.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign urged by computer scientists to challenge election results in three swing states
Hillary Clinton’s campaign is being urged by a group of prominent computer scientists to call for a recount of votes in three swing states, the New York Magazine reports.
The computer scientists and election lawyers believe that they have found evidence that results in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania may have been manipulated or hacked, and presented their findings to top Clinton aides on a conference call last Thursday, according to the New York Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer blog.
The magazine claims that “the group is so far not speaking on the record about their findings and is focused on lobbying the Clinton team in private.”
The computer experts reportedly found that Mrs Clinton received 7 per cent fewer votes in Wisconsin counties that relied on electronic voting machines compared counties that used optical scanners and ballot papers.
They calculated that if the electronic votes were changed to match the percentages in the rest of the state, she would have received an extra 30,000. The Democratic candidate lost the state, which carries 10 electoral votes, by 27,000.
The group noted that whilst they did not find any evidence of manipulation, the analysis should be enough to ask for an independent review.
Donald Trump currently has 290 Electoral College votes, 270 are needed to win, against Mrs Clinton’s 232, with Michigan’s 16 electoral votes still to be awarded as the vote counting is still too tight to call.
In the run up to the US election the White House had expressed concern about potential cyber attacks influencing the election, and the Obama administration accused Russia of attempting to breach voter registration data and of hacking the Democratic National Committee emails.
[Source:-Telegraph]
