Electronic voting systems—encompassing ballot‑marking devices, optical scanners, election management systems (EMS), and associated software—are the technological backbone of most modern elections, but their complexity and proprietary nature make them a critical vulnerability point in the chain of custody. Under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Election Assistance Commission’s (EAC) Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG), systems must be certified to federal standards by accredited labs, deployed in exactly those certified configurations, subjected to pre‑election logic and accuracy (L&A) tests, and operated with robust security and audit trails to ensure verifiable results. Deviations from these requirements—whether in certification, configuration, testing, security, or supply chain—create opportunities for error, manipulation, or exploitation that cannot be retroactively audited if key logs or images are absent or overwritten.