January 24, 2024 Amidst swirling conspiracy theories about US election integrity, a federal trial is bringing the vulnerabilities of Georgia’s voting system into the spotlight. Professor Alex Halderman of the University of Michigan has just given a courtroom demonstration that could be straight out of a hacker’s handbook, showing how a voting machine might be compromised with just a pen, a faux voter card, or a USB stick.

While the trial, under the gavel of U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg, isn’t about past election fraud—it’s already been debunked—it’s probing the susceptibility of the system to meddling and mishaps. Election officials are standing firm, assuring that the Peach State’s elections are hack-proof and that any vulnerabilities shown are merely theoretical.

However, past breaches like January 2021’s Coffee County incident, where election software was copied, have activists pushing for a back-to-basics approach with paper ballots for 2024. The decision rests with Judge Totenberg, with the verdict set to resonate beyond Georgia, possibly redefining how elections are conducted across the US.