Some states still await election security audit
DHS has completed its review in New Mexico
With the midterm congressional primaries about to go into full swing, the Department of Homeland Security has completed security reviews of election systems in only about half the states that have requested them so far.
The government’s slow pace in conducting the reviews has raised concerns that the nation’s voting systems could be vulnerable to hacking, especially after U.S. intelligence agencies warned that Russia plans to continue meddling in the country’s elections.
Among those still waiting for Homeland Security to conduct a risk assessment is Indiana, one of four states with primaries on Tuesday.
Like other states, Indiana used a private vendor to conduct a risk assessment and is one of 33 states and 32 local election offices that are receiving remote cyber scanning services from Homeland Security to identify vulnerabilities in their networks.
The concerns aren’t just theoretical.
The nation’s intelligence chiefs warned earlier this year that Russia remains interested in disrupting U.S. elections after a multipronged effort to interfere two years ago. That included attempts to hack into the election systems of 21 states.
Election officials in nine of those states said they were still waiting for a DHS risk assessment, according to a nationwide Associated Press survey.
Homeland Security said it has completed risk assessments of election systems in just nine of the 17 states that have formally requested them so far. It has pledged to finish them by November for every state that asks, but the reviews are not likely to be done in time for some state primaries, many of which are in May and June.
Some states prefer to do the security checks on their own, with some, such as New Hampshire, expressing concern about federal overreach.
Some states told the Associated Press they had received the DHS reviews — New Mexico, Colorado, Maryland, Nebraska and Oregon.
Two of the states targeted in 2016 — Alabama and Oklahoma — have yet to request a DHS security review.
Alabama Secretary of State John H. Merrill said the state could still decide to make the request before the election.
“We are trying to be as prepared as we can possibly be with our existing partners,” Merrill said. “We want to keep every option open that we have.”