The White House has spent months suppressing a government report detailing significant vulnerabilities in America's voting machines — and ordinary citizens heading to the polls this November deserve to know what's in it before they cast their ballots.
The report, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, identifies security gaps in how voting machines are used in U.S. elections and recommends safeguards like software updates, according to three sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Newsmax. It does not claim votes have been flipped. It does lay out vulnerabilities — including machines running outdated software and retaining the ability to connect to the internet, where hackers could exploit them — that prior administrations have known about and done nothing to fix.
The delay is the scandal. Some White House officials have reportedly argued the report could undermine voter confidence, particularly among Republicans. Others have complained it doesn't go far enough to support President Trump's claims that the 2020 election was rigged. So the administration is caught between two political impulses — and the public gets neither transparency nor action.
Meanwhile, ODNI officials and outside experts who advised the agency pushed the White House late last year to start fixing the flaws in time to coordinate with states before the midterms. That didn't happen. White House spokesperson Davis Ingle offered only a statement that the administration "continues to offer assistance to state and local election officials, including through the FBI and CISA, to ensure the security and integrity of all machines used in American elections." That's bureaucratic deflection, not accountability.
Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who launched the investigation into voting machines and searched for evidence supporting Trump's 2020 fraud claims, steps down Friday. Trump's pick to replace her on an interim basis is federal housing regulator Bill Pulte — an odd choice to oversee intelligence operations. Trump has said he wants Pulte to investigate "rigged elections" during his tenure at ODNI. Pulte has been briefed on the unreleased report, according to two sources, but has not responded to requests for comment on what he plans to do with it.
Some Democrats privately worry Gabbard's probe would be used to push states toward paper ballots — as if paper trails were a threat rather than a basic safeguard. ODNI spokesperson Olivia Coleman said Gabbard has taken "actions within her authorities" to "support the President's directive to secure our elections — which includes identifying vulnerabilities in our critical infrastructure."
All sources said they were unaware of any evidence of actual vote manipulation. Several court cases filed by Trump's lawyers after 2020 likewise failed to prove fraud. But the absence of proven exploitation is not proof of security — it's an argument for releasing the findings and forcing states to act.
The report is part of a broader administration effort following Trump's executive order investigating potential election fraud. If the machines are secure, release the study and prove it. If they're not, Americans deserve that truth before November. Sitting on it serves only the people in power — not the people casting votes.
