By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. Senate committee on Tuesday released its first draft recommendations on how to prevent foreign hacking of U.S. elections, calling on Congress to help states tighten security after spending more than a year investigating Russian attempts to target the voting system in the 2016 campaign.
“It is clear the Russian government was looking for the vulnerabilities in our election system,” Senator Richard Burr, the Republican chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said at a news conference.
He said there was no evidence any vote was changed but said warnings did not provide enough information or always go to the right person.
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“We are here to express concerns but also confidence in our state and local governments,” he said.
The committee’s initial findings amounted to the most comprehensive and bipartisan recommendations to improve election cyber security since the 2016 presidential contest.
The committee recommended Congress “urgently pass” legislation to boost assistance to states in fighting election hacking. It also recommended that Washington “clearly communicate” that attacks on elections are hostile and respond accordingly.
The draft recommendations called on the Department of Homeland Security to create clear channels of communication between the federal government and state and local officials.
U.S. intelligence agencies determined that Moscow interfered in the campaign to boost Republican President Donald Trump’s chances of being elected, allegations that have shadowed his presidency.
Senate Intelligence conducted what is widely regarded as the least partisan out of the three main congressional investigations of the matter. Special Counsel Robert Mueller also is investigating, as well as looking into the possibility of collusion with Russia or obstruction of justice by Trump associates.
Moscow denies seeking to meddle in the U.S. campaign. Trump has denied improper action by his associates, repeatedly taking to Twitter to dismiss the investigations as a “witch hunt.”
With many states using antiquated voting machines and with concerns about potential interference in future U.S. elections by Russia or other actors, there is rising concern among experts about the need to safeguard American balloting.
U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly warned that they expect Russia or others to attempt to meddle in the November 2018 midterm elections, when control of the U.S. Congress is at stake.
(Additional reporting by Dustin Volz, Mark Hosenball and Doina Chiacu; Editing by Tom Brown and Bill Trott)
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