ESS DS400 Tabulators Equipped with Active Verizon Cellular Modems Configured to Transmit Results to Private Network IP Address (MI)

Forensic examination of ESS DS400 tabulator thumb drives confirmed that each DS400 was equipped with a Verizon cellular wireless communications card that was active on power-up. Both devices were configured to transmit election results to IP address 10.48.51.1 – a private network address accessible remotely only through the public internet or a VPN. This finding directly contradicts ESS’s public representations that its tabulators do not have internet connectivity. A cellular modem that activates on power-up and transmits results to a network-accessible private IP establishes a functional, built-in data transmission pathway of unknown destination.