"Legally, logistically, and just risk-management wise, this was the safest, wisest course," said Chief Operating Officer in the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling.
"The ICX BMDs are not sufficiently secured against technical compromise to withstand vote-altering attacks by bad actors who are likely to attack future elections in Georgia."
Following this discovery, the ballots were audited by the Michigan secretary of state's office, with the findings accessible only through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
"What this means is that one of the world’s most horrific regimes is now a part of a group that sets and enforces the standards and norms for the global governance of health care. It is an absurd episode for a key U.N. agency that is in much need of self-reflection and reform,” Hillel Neuer, Executive Director of Geneva-based independent human rights organization, UN Watch, commented.