New legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI) this week is seeking to update voter system protections and out-of-date infrastructure.
U.S. intelligence community assessments have found that at least 21 state election systems were attacked by Russian-affiliated hackers in the 2016 elections, and recent investigations by papers and academic experts have demonstrated the dangers posed to U.S. voting systems.
“Our democracy depends on free and fair elections, and we must do everything we can to protect the security and integrity of that process,” Dingell said. “The reality is, many of our voting machines have not been updated in nearly two decades and are susceptible to cyberattacks. We know that foreign adversaries pay very close attention to our elections, and until we address these vulnerabilities, our democratic process is at risk.”
In response, the congresswoman introduced the Safeguarding Electron Infrastructure Act of 2017. That act, if passed, would allow state and local election officials security clearance to share intelligence and credible information acquired by federal agencies. In addition, it would require paper receipts for every vote cast. It would also provide grants to help states update voting systems and establish audits of election results if a race’s winner receives less than 59 percent of the vote.
The need for some sort of action has been further emphasized by this year’s DEF CON hacking conference. At that gathering, hackers and security researchers were able to compromise five different types of voting machines in less than a full day–a fact with potentially huge consequences during an actual election.