That only means they don't design the ballots, but they could coordinate to put watermarks in for security reasons. The reason we aren't hearing them specifically confirm or deny is because it is for national security. This debunks nothing.
Exactly this. There are multiple videos and photos since election showing mail-in ballots with light-activated security marks.
It boggles my mind how so many people here are actively trying to deny that ballots for a literal presidental election have "watermarks" or any type of security backing.
Those dots will show where it was printed. So IF its true that commercial printers have it and IF the feds break out the tech to trace it down they could scan every ballot and see whether or not it matched the printer code of the private companies they used to make them in the first place.
That would tell you if someone printed up fake ballots. That may help, then you're just left with the type of fraud where someone fills out someone else's ballot for them.
Maybe the issue is that the idea behind it is true but the rumor is mixed up.
They even put watermarks in music samples to prevent theft. It's an audible watermark that only a computer can pick up. Trump signed an EO after the fraud in the 2018 elections to prevent this very thing.
This doesn't debunk anything until we know which security measures are in place in Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The article clearly says "Local election offices have security and detection measures in place that make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots. While the specific measures vary, in accordance with state and local election laws and practices, ballot security measures can include signature matching, information checks, barcodes, watermarks, and precise paper weights. "
I really wanted this story to be true, that we would be able to have this level of hard evidence, but I highly doubt it.
Remember the states with misprinted ballots a month ago? They blamed the private printers they used and reprinted. They did not blame DHS.
Even if they provided the ballots, the states know how many went out and how many were returned. They can still return legal ballots illegally filled out and the watermark would do nothing.
Reality: The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) do not design or audit ballots, which are processes managed by state and local election officials.
Rumor: DHS or CISA printed paper ballots with security measures and is auditing results as a countermeasure against ballot counterfeiting.
Get the Facts: While DHS and CISA assist states and localities with securing election infrastructure, DHS and CISA do not design, print, or audit ballots. State and local election officials manage ballot design and printing, as well as the auditing of results.
Local election offices have security and detection measures in place that make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots. While the specific measures vary, in accordance with state and local election laws and practices, ballot security measures can include signature matching, information checks, barcodes, watermarks, and precise paper weights.
DHS and CISA operate in support of state and local election officials, and do not administer elections or handle ballots. CISA’s role in election security includes sharing information, such as cyber threat indicators, with state and local election officials, as well as providing technical cybersecurity services (e.g. vulnerability scanning) upon the request of those officials.>
It's the kind of thing that fires up the imagination. Real spy novel stuff. I really really want CISA to have been on top of this, but unless there is a federal order somewhere that says states have to buy paper from the feds I just don't see it. I searched around a bit but only found a piece by NPR showing a ballot printing place in AZ that talked about the process but nothing on the paper itself.
If it does turn out to be true it will blow my mind and I will be gratefully, humbly wrong.
How exactly are they debunking?
Second paragraph down, I quoted the relevant bit below.
That only means they don't design the ballots, but they could coordinate to put watermarks in for security reasons. The reason we aren't hearing them specifically confirm or deny is because it is for national security. This debunks nothing.
Exactly this. There are multiple videos and photos since election showing mail-in ballots with light-activated security marks.
It boggles my mind how so many people here are actively trying to deny that ballots for a literal presidental election have "watermarks" or any type of security backing.
Afaik all consumer grade printers have a watermark function Article and Video about Machine Identification Code not sure on commercial grade but probable as well.
Those dots will show where it was printed. So IF its true that commercial printers have it and IF the feds break out the tech to trace it down they could scan every ballot and see whether or not it matched the printer code of the private companies they used to make them in the first place.
That would tell you if someone printed up fake ballots. That may help, then you're just left with the type of fraud where someone fills out someone else's ballot for them.
Maybe the issue is that the idea behind it is true but the rumor is mixed up.
They even put watermarks in music samples to prevent theft. It's an audible watermark that only a computer can pick up. Trump signed an EO after the fraud in the 2018 elections to prevent this very thing.
This doesn't debunk anything until we know which security measures are in place in Pennsylvania, Atlanta, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Michigan. The article clearly says "Local election offices have security and detection measures in place that make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots. While the specific measures vary, in accordance with state and local election laws and practices, ballot security measures can include signature matching, information checks, barcodes, watermarks, and precise paper weights. "
No matter what security measures you have, it's completely useless if the fraudsters have a list of them ahead of time.
It would debunk that DHS would be involved with marking the ballots in some way before the states send them out.
I really wanted this story to be true, that we would be able to have this level of hard evidence, but I highly doubt it.
Remember the states with misprinted ballots a month ago? They blamed the private printers they used and reprinted. They did not blame DHS.
Even if they provided the ballots, the states know how many went out and how many were returned. They can still return legal ballots illegally filled out and the watermark would do nothing.
Rumor: DHS or CISA printed paper ballots with security measures and is auditing results as a countermeasure against ballot counterfeiting.
Get the Facts: While DHS and CISA assist states and localities with securing election infrastructure, DHS and CISA do not design, print, or audit ballots. State and local election officials manage ballot design and printing, as well as the auditing of results.
Local election offices have security and detection measures in place that make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots. While the specific measures vary, in accordance with state and local election laws and practices, ballot security measures can include signature matching, information checks, barcodes, watermarks, and precise paper weights.
DHS and CISA operate in support of state and local election officials, and do not administer elections or handle ballots. CISA’s role in election security includes sharing information, such as cyber threat indicators, with state and local election officials, as well as providing technical cybersecurity services (e.g. vulnerability scanning) upon the request of those officials.>
Told people not to listen to that CIA shill Steve Pieczenik
Once people understand that states print their own ballots will know this claim was a LARP.
Is there anything listed somewhere that states have to use DHS supplied paper for ballots to be printed on? That would shore up the theory.
It's the kind of thing that fires up the imagination. Real spy novel stuff. I really really want CISA to have been on top of this, but unless there is a federal order somewhere that says states have to buy paper from the feds I just don't see it. I searched around a bit but only found a piece by NPR showing a ballot printing place in AZ that talked about the process but nothing on the paper itself.
If it does turn out to be true it will blow my mind and I will be gratefully, humbly wrong.