An investigation involving state police and election officials has been launched in Michigan after a voting machine wound up for sale on eBay for $1,200.
The Dominion-made machine was purchased by Harri Hursti, a cybersecurity expert in Connecticut who specializes in detecting vulnerabilities in election systems.
Hursti told NPR he is often contracted by state-level election officials to test security flaws in voting machines. He's purchased around 200 used voting machines in the past, but had never seen one like the Dominion ImageCast X listed online. He had to have it.
Hursti quickly purchased the machine for $1,200, then sent an email to Michigan's secretary of state office alerting them of the deal.
"I contacted MI authorities even before the machine arrived - and before I even knew for certain if the machine had been used in Michigan. I still do not know that as a fact, because the machine is still in an [unopened] box," Hursti tweeted on September 2.
As it turns out, state officials didn't realize the voting machine was even missing.
"They didn't know a device was missing until they started looking to see if there's a missing machine," Hursti told NPR. "They really had no idea, and that is one of the biggest dangers to election security."
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said the machine is now the target of an investigation.
"We are actively working with law enforcement to investigate allegations of an illegal attempt to sell a voter assist terminal acquired in Michigan," Benson tweeted.
Benson clarified that the machine is a voter assist terminal, which does not tabulate ballots but is used by voters who need assistance marking their ballot privately at polling places.
"Our elections are and remain safe and secure," she added. "We take seriously all violations of election law and will be working with authorities to ensure there are consequences for those who break the law."
Benson said the machine was acquired in Wexford County, in northwestern Michigan.
According to CNN, the machine was initially purchased by an Ohio man who found it for sale on a Michigan Goodwill website for just $7.99. He then listed it on eBay, describing it as "one of thousands used in the 2020 United States presidential election," with bidding to start at $250 or the option to buy it outright for $1,200.
Hursti told NPR that it may be shocking to hear about voting machines being bought and sold for little money, "but it happens all the time." Now, he's waiting to find out if the machine was stolen, which would make the sale illegal.
"If it was not [stolen], then the machine is mine and I can get started,” he said. "I've never taken a look inside one of those."
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