We Need Better Election Security - 2019

         YOUR VOTE IS UNDER ATTACK - HELP ME PROTECT IT!



I'm asking your help to protect our elections. I'm Lulu Friesdat, a journalist and filmmaker who has contributed to Emmy award-winning coverage, and I need your help to continue my work both covering our elections and helping to protect them.

I've just attended DEF CON - the largest hacking convention on the planet where I filmed hackers gaining access to voting machines and voter registration data systems. The footage is remarkable, frightening and informative. I need to edit it so I can bring it to you.

I filmed one the major optical scan machines in use in the U.S. being hacked, as well as a ballot-marking device, and two electronic pollbooks. I even have footage of an email ballot being changed in transit while being emailed.

The material is framed and put into context by interviews with hackers, security experts, a former election official, and a well-known national security journalist.

I also have footage of a new security protocol being developed by the Department of Defense for use in voting machines and other infrastructure. Hackers were NOT able to penetrate it and the head of that defense program, and the lead researcher demonstrate the hardware and explain how it will be used.

I'm so excited for you to see this footage. But both filming and editing the footage costs money - and I need your help. Please give as much as you can today so that I can bring this information and these stories to you.

After these pieces are edited I will be continuing my work with SMART Elections collaborating with people who care about election reform so that together we can elevate the issue to an urgent national priority.

Here is a link to my bio. This is the investigation  I produced from last year's DEF CON. It received almost 1/2 a million views. This is the piece I produced from the first DEF CON Voting Hacking Village. It received close to 2 million views. My previous work includes directing a documentary  about why more people don't vote and participate in elections. It was featured in The Hollywood Reporter as part of a group of “thoughtful and provocative” films being made by women, and received a Best Documentary award. You can find selects from over ten years of my work in network news and film on my production website ShugahWorks.com .

My goal is to raise $5,000 so that I can produce these stories and get them distribution. Please donate now, while you are here. The 2020 presidential election is around the corner. I'm working to make sure every vote - including yours - will count and count the way it was intended.

I'm so grateful for your help!

Thank you for everything you are doing to protect your vote!