Election Expert Warns The Senate To Prepare For Voting Machine Hack

Election expert J. Alex Halderman told the Senate Intelligence Committee Wednesday that voting machines can absolutely be hacked and votes changed, and that we must prepare now.

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During the Senate Intel hearing, Department of Homeland Security acting deputy undersecretary of cyber security Jeanette Manfra not only refused to identify which of the 21 U.S. states’ election systems she admitted were targeted by the Russians during the 2016 election, but she also claimed that no actual votes were manipulated.

A claim that Senator Angus King (I-ME) disagreed with. Senator King made a point that is key, because it is how experts have suggested the Russians would target elections here, taking certain counties instead of an entire state — an odd trend that we did see in certain battleground states in 2016 like Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Florida.

“A sophisticated actor could hack an election simply by focusing on certain counties,” King said. “I don’t think it works just to say it’s a big system and diversity will protect us.”

We are not preparing to fight off the Russians because Republicans are still pretending the Russians didn’t hack the U.S., even though 17 intel agencies agree that they did.

President Trump has expressed no concern or interest in the notion that our elections can be hacked, a troubling and bizarre stance for a President. Republicans in both chambers show the same reticence, though they usually manage to mask it with a show of concern followed by obstructing any action that could actually investigate, let alone fight off, any Russian attacks on our country.

Even when a few Republicans manage to show concern, somehow the chair of the investigatory committee, like Rep. Devin Nunes, manages to undermine the mission to protect the U.S.

Sarah Jones

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