Election Tech

The U.S. Senate has now joined the House of Representatives in proposing a law that would give every active member of the military the ability to cast votes electronically while overseas.

Pulaski County officials have selected the Verity system, made by Hart InterCivic, which will include 25 scanners to handle paper ballots and 15 DUO standalone machines which are handicap-accessible.

With the cybersecurity mishaps of the 2016 presidential election in mind, Rhode Island lawmakers have proposed a bill to do a cybersecurity assessment of its election systems to prevent future cyber attacks.

2020 saw the FBI, CISA and local governments collaborate more closely to keep elections secure. Building on these efforts and better engaging private companies and the public will help protect future elections, experts say.

Some experts believe New Jersey, which is considered one of the least secure states in regard to voting, should invest in paper trails, but the solution could cost between $60 million and $80 million.

Chris Krebs, the former director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, told the Senate Homeland Security Governmental Affairs Committee Wednesday that claims of election fraud are without merit.

For a second time in 2020, MIT scientists have warned the country about the risks of blockchain voting, which has been featured in a few pilots, most notably in one Utah county during the 2020 presidential election.

Despite concerns about foreign interference in the 2020 presidential election, officials with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency say they were able to keep cyberthreats at arm's length on Election Day.

A ransomware attack on election-related government computers in a Georgia county raises the specter of more disruptions for Election Day voting and vote tabulation.

A recent ransomware attack that took over some Hall County, Ga., election information will apparently not harm other election systems in the state, according to the secretary of state's office.

A resident in Utah County used the phone app Voatz to cast a vote in this year's presidential election. Voatz has played a part in several of the county's elections since last year.

Of all the cyberattacks that affect state and local governments, ransomware is one of the most ubiquitous and costly. Now security researchers fear it could also become a political weapon in the upcoming election.

Blockchain technology can address some weaknesses in voting systems, but not all of them – and it opens new potential vulnerabilities, too.

Gov. Jerry Brown will now decide whether the legislation to create a special cybersecurity team within the Secretary of State’s Office will become law.