Cybersecurity Experts: Requesting Ballots By Email Is Safe

A group of leading cybersecurity experts told an Ohio court that absentee ballot applications can be safely transmitted using email, countering the secretary of state’s assertions that the practice would open up voting in the presidential battleground to outside interference.

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In a filing late Monday, eight experts in computer information and engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgetown, Princeton and other universities joined the American Civil Liberties Union and the Brennan Center for Justice in asking a state appellate court to allow the ballot applications to be accepted by electronic means.

“Election officials can easily facilitate electronic submission of applications at little cost while minimizing associated security risks,” their filing said. “Ideally this should be done by a secure online portal, but it is also feasible to do so using email.”