ATLANTA -- VoterGA recently called on the Georgia General Assembly to immediately ban Secretary of State (SOS) Brad Raffensperger's efforts to outsource the Georgia voter registration system into an internet cloud. The SOS selected a Salesforce platform and little known, MTX as the implementation partner in a secret, no-bid contract that has been well underway for some time. The initiative would move the voter registration system outside of his control where it is vulnerable to cyber-attack and left in the hands of third-party vendors whose employees are not sworn to uphold the Georgia Constitution.
Cloud Computing Security Issues
VoterGA explained in their recent press conference a variety of serious, well-known security issues inherent in cloud-based computing, thus rendering it as an unsuitable platform for mission critical Georgia election data. They also showed a class action suit against Salesforce alleging that its Commerce Cloud became infected with malware. The malware acquired Personal Identifying Information (PII) for nearly 20,000 customers. It was later found for sale on the "dark web." The suit further alleges that Salesforce did not release a vulnerabilities and exposures report, nor did they make any notifications of the breach.
Salesforce's Partisan, Flawed Partnerships
The press conference pointed out the fallacy of giving control of mission critical systems to third parties. Salesforce is based on Amazon Web Services, which de-platformed Parler just as it gained significant market share and became a threat to larger social media platforms. VoterGA also showed how Salesforce and its President Marc Benioff are political partisans who publicly opposed legislative election integrity initiatives including SB202. That bill made ballot images public record so election results could be better verified. Benioff, who does not live in Georgia, even made a false claim that a SB202 predecessor would eliminate provisional ballots. Further, Salesforce also partnered with Stacy Abrams' New Georgia Project in partisan voter registration efforts.
MTX's Inexperienced Off-Shore Operation
VoterGA research determined that MTX is a four-year-old India based company, with no election experience. Their employee list shows only three employees in America and only one in Georgia. Workers used their own personal computers and Email addresses on a no-bid Texas contact tracing system that was criticized by a legislator as "one fumble after another."
Subscription Pricing Control Inadequacy
In addition, VoterGA explained how Salesforce, a SaaS application, subjects the state of Georgia to potentially uncontrollable subscription pricing as opposed to more stable, fixed pricing that is the norm for in-house developed systems. VoterGA-co-founder Garland Favorito stated: "There is no technical or business reason to subject Georgia voters to these kinds of severe risks. The General Assembly must stop this insanity prior to implementation to avoid permanent damage to our elections. The codes changes that are necessary to protect Georgia voters are simple and easy to make."
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VoterGA is a non-partisan, 501(c)3 registered non-profit organization created by a coalition of citizens working to restore election integrity in Georgia. We advocate for independently verifiable, auditable, recount capable and transparent elections.
