MINNEAPOLIS, MN – AUGUST 14: A sign reading “Vote Here” points toward a polling place for the 2018 Minnesota primary election at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on August 14, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 4:17 PM PT – Saturday, September 3, 2022
Authorities in Michigan are investigating how a voting machine that went missing following the election wound up for sale online. According to a statement from the State on Friday, the machine was purchased by a cyber-security expert in Connecticut. The cyber-security expert has told authorities about his find and is currently waiting for officials to pick the machine up.
Forensic tracing has shown that the machine was first purchased by an Ohio man at a Goodwill store in northern Michigan last month. The man purchased the machine for $8. Soon after, the machine wound up on eBay. It was selling for $1,200 on the website.
Harri Hursti, an election machine security expert, reportedly saw the listing and purchased it outright.
“The fact that someone is selling voting machines on eBay, or on GovDeals, or any other site happens all the time,” Hursti said. “Most of the time, the seller is a government, a County, or an electronic recycling.”
Authorities have instructed Hursti to leave the machine in the box it came in as they plan to swab the device for evidence. Hursti asserted that the theft of the machine raises questions regarding how the election machines are stored and guarded.
Michigan law prevents citizens from holding, misusing or destroying voting machines. In addition, it prevents citizens from obtaining “undue possession” of the machines.