Tag: election integrity

Bipartisan initiative to thwart election hacking gains steam

The following article by James Hohmann with Breanne Deppisch and Joanie Greve was posted on the Washington Post website September 14, 2017:

THE BIG IDEA: West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner’s son was wounded by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan and suffered traumatic brain injury.

Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri during a meeting yesterday in Sochi. (Michael Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP/Getty Images)

When he finally made it home, the Republican asked his boy to tell him about his toughest day in combat.

“He had been wounded. There was a girl who had a leg blown off. They had to call in F-16s to secure their positions,” Warner recalled in an interview. “I was expecting those kinds of war stories out of him. But he said, ‘Dad, the hardest day for me, without a doubt, was election day in Afghanistan.’ It was 110 degrees. Before they went out, they put tourniquets on each of their arms and legs so, if they got hit, they could still turn the tourniquets. They found five IEDs around the one polling place that his platoon was assigned to defend.” But Afghans came out to vote any way, even at great personal risk to themselves. Continue reading “Bipartisan initiative to thwart election hacking gains steam”

Election Infrastructure: Vulnerabilities and Solutions

The following article was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 11, 2017:

For more information on vulnerabilities in election infrastructure and commonsense solutions, read the Center for American Progress’ “9 Solutions to Secure America’s Elections.”1

Board of elections technicians attempt to repair a voting machine at a polling station, November 8, 2016. Credit: AP/Alexander F. Yuan

In June 2017, the American people learned that Russian operatives had targeted 39 state election systems in the lead-up to the 2016 elections.2Beyond the states, Russians targeted an election equipment vendor.3 These cyberintrusions and other Election Day disruptions exposed the country’s voting infrastructure as outdated and vulnerable to attack, weakening confidence in the electoral process. One poll found that 1 in 4 Americans will consider abstaining from voting in future elections due to concerns over cybersecurity.4 Election officials at all levels of government must invest in America’s election infrastructure and defend the security of our election system. Continue reading “Election Infrastructure: Vulnerabilities and Solutions”