Federal Voting-Security Project Halted After Mojave Research Reported Critical Flaws

Mojave Research conducted a six-week analysis of Dominion voting systems used in Puerto Rico’s 2024 elections, discovering at least a dozen high- or critical-severity software flaws such as reused passwords, disabled firewalls and weak cryptography, but found no proof that the vulnerabilities were exploited or that votes were changed. The firm was initially granted permission by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to expand its staff from roughly ten to about sixty and to receive additional funding for equipment and further testing ahead of the November midterms.

Before the expanded effort could begin, a stop-work order was issued, ending the contract abruptly. Executives Jason Wareham and Manbir Gulati attribute the shutdown to political interference, citing pressure from a White-House-adjacent group and accusations that the company received money from George Soros, which they denied. Despite the findings, Liberty Vote, the current owner of Dominion’s election business, says it has not received the report and has no plans to remediate before the election. Mojave plans to release its findings via a Freedom of Information Act request and has filed paperwork to create the Machine Assurance Institute to conduct independent election-security audits.