In the fall of 2016, as reports of Russian-backed hacking of state election systems were surfacing, Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brian Kemp, rejected federal offers of help to secure his state’s voting systems. “The question remains whether the federal government will subvert the Constitution to achieve the goal of federalizing elections under the guise of security,” Kemp told a technology website. Now, Kemp is the Republican nominee to be Georgia’s next governor, and in another election season where cyber-attacks are in the air, his record securing the state’s elections is becoming a campaign issue. This past week, the Georgia Democratic Party called for Kemp’s resignation, citing in part his response to Russian-backed hacking attempts of state voting systems in 2016.
… Marian Scheider is president of Verified Voting, a non-profit that advocates for paper ballots. She said election administration in the U.S. has always brought partisanship. Today, she worries it will hurt the country.
“This issue of election administration and election security is not a political issue,” she said. “It’s a national security issue. These are national security concerns.”
As candidates in Georgia fight to win over voters, they’ll also be arguing about whether the technology used to cast and count their votes can be trusted.
Full Article: Election Security Becomes A Political Issue In Georgia Governor’s Race | WBUR News.