2:13 PM EST November 13, 2024 Updated: There is no evidence that Starlink internet was used to interfere with the presidential election results. Contrary to what many online claims suggest, the vast majority of voting equipment, including tabulators that count votes, is not connected to the internet. WHAT WE FOUND There is no evidence of widespread election interference tied to Starlink or any other group, federal officials confirmed. Contrary to what online claims suggest, the vast majority of voting equipment – including tabulators used to count votes – is not connected to the internet, making it impossible for Starlink to manipulate vote counts. The lack of an internet connection is aimed at limiting cybersecurity risks during elections. On Wednesday, Nov. 6, Jen Easterly, director of the federal government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), confirmed in a statement that the U.S. election was secure. The agency has “no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructure,” Easterly said. Voters’ ballots are scanned and counted electronically in many parts of the country. In some areas, voters use a computer to mark their ballot electronically and then get a printout that they insert into a scanner for counting. In other cases, a person casts their ballot electronically and a paper record is printed that summarizes the votes cast, the Associated Press explains. Election officials in most states also review some ballots by hand and compare the results to machine counts in order to verify their accuracy, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. The federal government’s National Institute of Standards and Technology recommends against connecting voting systems to the internet, saying they “will be exposed to online attacks.” VERIFY also did not find any evidence that devices used to count votes during the 2024 presidential election were connected to the internet through WiFi or Starlink satellites. Due to various state laws and directives, “almost no voting equipment is connected to the internet,” Ted Allen, Ph.D., as associate professor of integrated systems engineering at The Ohio State University and expert with the MIT Election Lab, said. A spokesperson for the OSET Institute, a U.S.-based nonprofit focused on global public election technology, innovation and security, agrees. “...The vast majority, if not all, ballot marking devices and tabulators are not connected to the internet by any means – whether WiFi, mobile or Starlink satellites,” Genya Coulter, who serves as the OSET Institute’s senior elections analyst, said. There are some jurisdictions in a few states that allow for ballot scanners in polling locations to transmit unofficial results, using a mobile private network, after voting has ended on Election Day and the memory cards containing the vote tallies have been removed, the AP reported. VERIFY also looked at key swing states’ policies on voting equipment and internet connectivity. In North Carolina, state law prohibits voting machines from being connected to the internet, the State Board of Elections says. There are no voting machines in the state that have a modem or modem chip, the elections board added. Georgia’s voting machines also do not connect to the internet in order to “limit cybersecurity risks,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's website says.