With the 2016 presidential election on the horizon and the ghosts of elections past still haunting it, you would think Florida would have an acute sense for ensuring its voting processes are working smoothly and efficiently. A recent report, though, indicates the state still is operating like a ‘74 Gremlin. The state auditor general, an independent officer hired by the Legislature, recently identified seven weaknesses with Florida’s voter registration system, a computerized database of voter information.
They included: Inadequate maintenance and performance controls to reduce the risk of equipment failures.
Disaster recovery plans that have not been tested in the last four years.
Fourteen state employees who had “inappropriate” access to the database.
Employees who had been on the job nearly a year who received no security training.
Security controls intended to protect the confidentiality of data needed to be improved.
To summarize, the state’s voter database is at risk of failing and/or being compromised. That would make for some potentially chaotic voting scenarios in a high-stakes national election.
Full Article: Florida elections imperiled by human error – Daily Commercial: Opinion.