Congress will question Virginia’s top elections official Wednesday about a decision he made weeks before this year’s election to prevent votes from being hacked. Virginia Department of Elections Commissioner Edgardo Cortes recommended removing all touchscreen voting machines and using paper ballots over concerns the electronic machines could be vulnerable to hackers trying to infiltrate Virginia’s election system. The U.S. House Oversight Committee called Cortes to testify and explain his decision Wednesday as part of a hearing on voting system vulnerabilities.
Cortes will tell the panel the security of America’s voting system has changed dramatically in the past year and Virginia and all states must be more vigilant, according to a copy of the testimony provided by congressional staffers. He also will say it was a scramble to get paper ballots ready in just two months for the election.
Cortes also will say, “The November 2017 general election was effectively administered without any reported voting equipment issues.”