Groups to study cybersecurity of election systems

County clerk may not be able to share all data

The League of Women Voters of the Houston Area plans to study the cybersecurity of Harris County’s election system, but the nonpartisan group may not be able to gather all the information it wants.

The League, working with the nonprofit civictech activist group Sketch City, hopes to finish the study and release recommendations by May.

During an organizational meeting Tuesday night at the Leonel Castillo Community Center, Sketch City founder Jeff Reichman said the group had received early cooperation from both the Harris County Clerk’s office, which administers elections, and the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector, which handles voter registration.

Reichman said the group wants to study all aspects of the county election process, which uses Hart InterCivic eSlate voting machines that are about 15 years old. He said they want to look into the documented vulnerabilities of the machines; how easily computers involved in the election can be physically accessed both

in storage and while in use; and what the procurement process is for buying new machines.

“We want to look into the best practices that anyone with access to sensitive information should follow,” Reichman said during Tuesday’s meeting.

Harris County Clerk Stan Stanart said a member of his staff has been working with the group. Because the study topic involves security, he said, he may not be able to share everything, however.

“We will have them in there, we will show them what’s going on, but, specifically on security, we may have to be a little vague,” Stanart said.

Tax Assessor-Collector Ann Harris Bennett did not return a phone call asking for comment.

Although the study comes in the wake of revelations of Russian interference in the 2016 election, the process began in May 2016, when the Houstonarea League voted to conduct the study, Reichman said.

The Department of Homeland Security has said there have been attempts by foreign operatives to hack into state and local election systems, some successful. And Bloomberg reported in June that 39 states had been “hit” by Russian hackers.

Harris County officials have refused to say whether any attempts have been made to access their election systems.