Secretary of State Kris Kobach’s office will postpone the initial uploading of voter registration data from other states to the Kansas-based Interstate Crosscheck System while it reviews the program’s cybersecurity, a state official said Wednesday. Bryan Caskey, director of elections in Kobach’s office, told members of the House Elections Committee the Kansas secretary of state’s office began reviewing security protocols for all its election processes in October 2016 due to national concerns over cybersecurity in voting systems. The Crosscheck program, which compares registrations across states to identify duplicate registrants and voters, has come under scrutiny for what critics claim are possible vulnerabilities of its data. Each year, states participating in Crosscheck upload data from their voter rolls for Kansas to compare with other member states and identify duplicates. Caskey said that process typically begins around Jan. 15 and takes a few weeks, but the window isn’t open yet.
The initial start date will be pushed back a few weeks, but he still expected it to fall in the typical few-week window. Department of Homeland Security officials will also be in Kansas in February to help review security protocols. Caskey said he wasn’t sure yet whether the submissions would begin before or after the visit.
“We’re still in the ballpark of where we’ve been in previous years,” Caskey said. “It’s just the first possible day we’re slipping back a little bit because we’re still testing and retesting.”
Full Article: Kobach’s office will delay data uploads for Crosscheck voter system to accommodate security review | The Topeka Capital-Journal.