States move to upgrade voting systems
WASHINGTON — State election officials, worried about the integrity of their voting systems, are pressing to make them more secure ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Reacting in large part to Russian efforts to hack the presidential election last year, a growing number of states are upgrading electoral databases and voting machines, and even adding cybersecurity experts to their election teams.
The efforts — from both Democrats and Republicans — amount to the largest overhaul of the nation’s voting infrastructure since the contested presidential election in 2000 spelled an end to punch-card ballots and voting machines with mechanical levers.
One aim is to prepare for the 2018 and 2020 elections by upgrading and securing electoral databases and voting machines that were cutting-edge before Facebook and Twitter even existed.
Another is to spot and defuse attempts to depress turnout and sway election results by targeting voters with false news reports and social media posts.
“What’s happening is a psy-ops operation,” said Mac Warner, the West Virginia secretary of state. “That’s what the Russians are running against us now, trying to erode confidence in our democratic process. We need to assure our citizens that we’re aware of these attacks, that we have assistance to counter them, and that when they do occur, don’t panic — there are resources to turn to.”
Experts have warned for years that state and local election equipment and security practices were dangerously out of date, but state and local election agencies short of cash have often lagged in updating their systems. The 2016 election, however, laid bare the seriousness of the threat.
Federal officials have said they are confident that November’s election results were not tampered with.
But federal intelligence and security officials were so shaken by Russian attempts to compromise the vote that the Department of Homeland Security designated election systems a critical national infrastructure, like banking and the electrical grid, that merit special protection.
State officials, who zealously guard their control of elections, have greeted federal efforts to address voting security with wariness. But that, too, has changed.
State election directors who were blindsided and angered by the Homeland Security department’s critical infrastructure designation will meet with department officials in Atlanta this month to discuss how they can share information about threats.