Installation of Uncertified Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio on Dominion EMS – Direct Database Manipulation Capability Without Application-Level Audit Trail (MI)

The Dominion Election Management Server (EMS) in Antrim County, Michigan was found to contain an installation of Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio – a database administration tool that is not part of the certified Dominion Democracy Suite configuration and has not been approved by the EAC for use on election systems. This installation is not a passive software presence; SQL Server Management Studio is an active tool that allows any user with database credentials to run arbitrary SQL scripts directly against the backend database – including scripts that would alter vote tallies, modify ballot records, or delete audit log entries – without generating any entry in the certified application-level audit log. The Dominion Democracy Suite’s EAC-certified audit trail only captures actions taken through the application interface, not direct database-level operations. Any action taken through SQL Server Management Studio against the election database would be invisible to the application-level audit log. This means that the audit trail cannot be relied upon to detect whether unauthorized modifications were made to the Antrim County election database.

NOTE: Disputed fact is whether or not SQL Server Management Studio is a component of the certified configuration or not.  It is not explicitly cited as a component of the certified system by the EAC.