California elections chief says state’s security is strong

California’s top elections official Alex Padilla said Wednesday the state has aggressive safety procedures in place to protect its elections systems against Russian and other meddling. set up to fight against it.

Some lawmakers lamented that even though the attempts weren’t successful, Russian agents have effectively altered the U.S. conversation around election security.

“I’m frustrated (the Russians) have set the frame, and I think we can take it back here today through evidence of our diligence in house,” said Democratic Sen. Henry Stern of Agoura Hills, chair of the Senate elections committee.

Fears of interference in U.S. elections rose anew in February when federal intelligence officials said Russian agents appear to be gearing up for 2018, both by targeting voter registration systems and fomenting distrust on social media. Experts say the federal and state governments haven’t done enough to prepare.

Padilla said California’s relationship with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is improving. He criticized the agency for being slow to tell California and other states about previous Russian scanning attempts. “The relationship with federal agencies in particular has improved over the course of the last year,” he said.

In a separate questionnaire from The Associated Press, Padilla’s office wouldn’t say if California has asked Homeland Security for an onsite risk and vulnerability assessment. As of mid-february, 14 states had asked for one.

A trio of local elections officials also urged lawmakers to approve Brown’s spending request to update outdated equipment.

Gail Pellerin, county clerk and registrar of voters in Santa Cruz County, shared concerns that Russia has effectively altered the public perception about voting safety. Even though the county systems need upgrades, they are still highly secure, she said.

“Our firewalls have prevailed,” she said. “I think their goal though is to bring doubt into people’s minds about the integrity and the accuracy of our vote in the hopes that we stay home and don’t vote.”