Several Michigan counties could not immediately report results from the Tuesday night primary election due to AT&T removing its 3G networks.
The Wayne County Clerk’s Office said in a Tuesday-night alert that 65 out of 83 counties in Michigan are “no longer modeming unofficial election results” to state officials. This significantly delayed reporting results to Wayne County and in several other Michigan counties.
This delay was caused by recommendations within the “Voluntary Voting Systems Guideline 2.0 issued by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, coupled with AT&T’s decision in March 2022 to no longer support 3G modems,” according to the alert.
GOP REP. PETER MEIJER DEFEATED BY TRUMP-BACKED CHALLENGER AFTER VOTING FOR IMPEACHMENT
Current voting guidelines for Michigan discourage counties from connecting voting machines to the internet. Section 14.2-E of the Voluntary Voting Systems Guideline 2.0 advise against connecting voting machines due to concerns about ransomware, as well as the ability for hackers to view internal files or modify files if desired. “We do not have a definitive time of when we will reach 100 percent reporting but will continue to work throughout the evening and morning until this is achieved,” the alert notes.
It is unclear how many counties’ delayed reporting results were caused by officials failing to upgrade modems in accordance with current networks.
The modems for transferring results were not upgraded past 3G because the state is no longer certifying upgrades, according to the Wayne County Clerk’s Office.
Officials have had to adapt, including delivering votes in person to Detroit officials. “The unofficial results from polling places are being driven by election workers in vehicles in the many counties that are phasing out the use of modems to transmit unofficial results,” a representative for the secretary of state told the Verge. “Counties are phasing out modems on different schedules because of their specific voting system configurations and county needs — for example, all 65 Dominion systems no longer use modems.”
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Rep. Peter Meijer (R-MI) was ousted from his seat on Tuesday in Michigan by the Trump-backed John Gibbs in his district’s primary. This was helped, in part, by Democrats spending money on ads to boost Gibbs in his primary and meddle in the Republican primary election.
AT&T announced that it was phasing out its 3G networks in February to replace the technology with improved connections.
