The voting environment in America has been forever changed. That’s because the significant vulnerability of the country’s election systems and the fear of election “interference” by foreign or domestic operatives are genuine. With midterm elections only seven months away, this situation weighs heavily on the minds of both candidates and public officials responsible for ensuring secure and accurate election results. While hacking of American voting systems is a relatively new challenge, technical problems caused by the advanced age of most voting machines are not new. Technology in recent years set the bar for improved voting efficiency by replacing paper ballot systems with electronic voting machines. But the new technology, which does not leave a paper trail, tends to fall short when it comes to security, accuracy and attacks by hackers. Too many voting machines currently in use have not been replaced or updated in more than a decade, and a high percentage have exceeded their life expectancy.
With almost irrefutable evidence that Russia hacked into U.S. election systems in 2016 in an attempt to influence the presidential campaign, there is now a concerted effort to address election accuracy. The Department of Homeland Security has warned representatives of each of the 50 states of possible malicious cyber attacks.
One meager attempt to arm election officials nationwide with tools to combat cyber attacks was the recent passage by Congress of the omnibus spending bill. It includes funding for securing digital election systems. Some fear it may be too late—and the $380 million allocated is certainly too little—to address every system in the country. The money, however, is earmarked for making security improvements, implementing cybersecurity guidelines and replacing outdated voting machines. But one looming problem is the fact that funding allocations are based on population, not on need.
Full Article: Cybersecurity woes in U.S. midterm elections – Born2Invest.