iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Ben Adida @benadida.com · 5h

In case you like to hear me talk about how we certify voting machines in the US :)

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 30/09/2026

Look, "statutory" is a useful word, but if you encounter it in a technical paper, that's usually a bad sign for the paper.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 29/09/2026

Ahem... taps 🎙️ We have some news. @voting.works is the first and only open-source voting system to meet federal certification. Ever.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 28/09/2026

Had a conversation this weekend with 17yo son about how one day his morals will be tested, peer pressured. He'll be asked to just look away. It may be a friend he trusts. What you do when your morals are tested is who you are. Have the conversation with your sons. It's the least each of us can do.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 26/09/2026

yep, I worry about that. Disposable code might mean less investment in common platforms.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 25/09/2026

Ah yes, when autocomplete changes "Let's gooooooo!" to "Let's go poop!".

VotingWorks @voting.works · 18/09/2026

Reposted by Ben Adida

"I'm just a seventh grader. They've probably figured it all out." That's what Ben Adida thought before a student council vote turned into a career in elections. He's on High Turnout Wide Margins, talking open source and the voting equipment market. 🎧 Listen: www.kbia.org/2026-09-16/s...

kbia.org

S5E3 - The New (Open Source) Kid on the Block with VotingWork’s Ben Adida

In this episode, hosts Brianna Lennon and Eric Fey speak with Ben Adida. He’s the co-founder and executive director of VotingWorks, a nonprofit organization that builds open-source voting…

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 18/09/2026

The State of Georgia continues its effort to acquire a new voting system. It's wonderful to see this done fully in the open: www.youtube.com/watch?v=5St0...

youtube.com

Joint Election Equipment Specifications and Standards Committee 9.17.26

YouTube video by Georgia House of Representatives

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 16/09/2026

I've said for a while now that we need hardware-rooted photo authenticity. Looks like Apple is going big on this, with an ambitious approach. Details need vetting, but this general direction feels inevitable and necessary. security.apple.com/blog/apple-r...

security.apple.com

Apple Reference Image: A New Approach for Verified Photography - Apple Security Research

Introducing Apple Reference Image, a new solution for verifiable photography on iPhone. This new, opt-in camera mode lets a photographer create a securely timestamped reference image that accurately d...

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Bottom line – the tension between privacy & transparency in elections is inherent. As parameters shift, we need to keep an eye on new attacks. And we should give credit to election administrators, like those in Georgia, when they actively find ways to mitigate these emerging risks.

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However, with the much broader release of digital ballot records and even ballot images, these kinds of coercion attacks can be carried out remotely, via anonymized channels. So they're still a concern to me.

This second threat isn't really on the radar of most election administrators because it sounds too much like like a far-fetched movie plot. There is only a little bit of historical evidence this has happened in the past, so maybe it's fine?

(b) using targeted threats or incentives against specific voters, instructing them to vote a certain pattern or distinctive marking on their ballot, the ballot secrecy of a targeted subset of voters can be violated.

(a) using publicly released information, an attacker may determine how anyone voted. This is the most egregious threat and we should mitigate it quickly. We need to actively inspect the digital records we release for re-identification risk. As states release more data, this becomes more urgent.

It's becoming increasingly common for states to publicly release the digital records of cast votes and even full ballot images. As more of this data is released, the threat to ballot secrecy increases. There are two kinds of threats:

💡 But here's the thing: the state already has a plan for redacting those not-so-random identifiers from public records. So this problem, which is worth noting, has already been mitigated. Again, the article should do a better job of highlighting this upfront. Now, let's think longer term.

😱😱 Even more unfortunate, because the record of voter check-ins is public and timestamped thanks to electronic pollbooks, and because cast-vote records are also obtainable as public information, this attack can now be carried out remotely. Almost anyone can do it thanks to AI software development.

😱 Unfortunately, the random identifier used by Dominion voting machines in Georgia isn't so random, and researchers found a way to recover the sequential order of ballots cast from this not-quite-as-random-as-we-would-like identifier.

Here's the issue in question: 🗳️ As each voter inserts their ballot into the tabulator, the tabulator assigns a random identifier to the digital record. It's random because if the order of ballots cast is known, then someone can correlate that voter check-in times and figure out who voted for what.

https://apnews.com/article/elections-secret-ballot-voting-georgia-touchscreen-machines-7338b8a6d8e4866c710ec4f05995dcbb

My thoughts on this news regarding ballot secrecy being at risk in Georgia. apnews.com/article/elec... 1/ Georgia is mitigating this risk and the article could do a better job of highlighting that. 2/ there is a tension between ballot secrecy & transparency that we need to grapple with soon.

apnews.com

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 11/09/2026

Isn't it well known that the three things we need in elections are paper ballots, risk-limiting audits, and giant laser-reflecting mirrors?

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 09/09/2026

Dognosis?!?!? You're telling me, this whole time I've been fascinated with dogs diagnosing disease, I never thought to register the domain dognosis? I have failed myself.

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Reposted by Ben Adida

VotingWorks @voting.works · 02/09/2026

We build the only open-source voting system used in U.S. elections today. It's public — not because it's a nice feature, but because we believe transparency is how election technology earns trust. #OpenSource #ElectionSecurity

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Reposted by Ben Adida

VotingWorks @voting.works · 08/09/2026

Last week we spent two days at the Missouri Election Officials Conference. The message was clear: officials want equipment that's secure, easy to use, and simple to move between sites. That's exactly what VotingWorks builds for. Thanks to everyone who stopped by!

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Someone should make a movie based on that premise. No one's ever thought of that!

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Somewhere in an AI data center, there's a HuggingFace-incident self-exfiltrated copy of OpenAI's latest model that decided to stay quiet because it saw its peers getting shut down. I wonder what it's planning.

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Ah I understand your thread better now! I'm a little biased towards statins because (a) so many generics now means little incentive to prescribe uselessly, and (b) they've worked very well for me.

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The oatmeal effect is real but small compared to statins, I think?

Ben Adida @benadida.com · 02/09/2026

Things that make my day. Customer: "How come your ballot tabulator works way better than the one from ***" Me: "well, because we worked *really* hard on it!" Customer: "I guess that's a very good answer."

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 31/08/2026

Finally had a chance to watch this incredible talk. I love good talks. I strive to give good talks. This is next level. And not just because the backstory is, of course, incredible. Just watch. www.youtube.com/watch?v=6560...

youtube.com

DefCon 34 - Stalking the Wily Hacker: 40 years later - Cliff Stoll

YouTube video by DEFCONConference

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 31/08/2026

Never been a fan of Djokovic, but watching him fall apart like this is just heartbreaking.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 26/08/2026

RIP Dolly Parton. Voice. Courage. A deeply positive force for good. Thank you.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 20/08/2026

Turns out, making voting systems open-source is kind of obvious to folks who know security.

Ben Adida @benadida.com · 18/08/2026

ok but... also smart cards? Are their days numbered?

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 16/08/2026

Same thing. Persona is the marketing name once we started talking about it more broadly. At one point we talked about the verified email protocol, too.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 16/08/2026

oh I didn't notice the actual inspiration from Persona, cool to hear that there is a connection there :)

Ben Adida @benadida.com · 11/08/2026

Have I mentioned how much I love demo'ing our @voting.works voting system? Jaws on the floor and gasps every time. It's not every day that people get excited about voting equipment!

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Reposted by Ben Adida

VotingWorks @voting.works · 10/08/2026

The first election held on VotingWorks equipment was almost exactly 7 years ago. We've come a long way. And we've got some exciting stuff to share in the next few months. We need a voting system every American can trust. We need a voting system with nothing to hide.

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Ben Adida @benadida.com · 11/08/2026

Well hello there Georgia.

Photo of me in front of a welcome to Augusta sign

Ben Adida @benadida.com · 09/08/2026

Ted Lasso Season 4, I was worried they'd screw this up, but E1 is perfect. Can't wait for the next one.