Sen. Klobuchar, former DHS Secretary Johnson outline vulnerabilities in election security ahead of 2018 midterms

With midterm elections approaching in November, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) warned on Monday that federal and state officials remain unable to ensure that elections are secure from outside attacks.

Klobuchar and former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Jeh Johnson discussed election security at an event hosted by the Center for American Progress (CAP). The event coincided with CAP’s release of an election security report that found that paperless electronic voting machines are the biggest threat to election security.

Klobuchar called on Congress to approve a bill she authored to provide federal funding for states to upgrade election security. She also renewed her call for post-election audits and establishing an independent commission to probe Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election.

“This is a pivotal moment,” Klobuchar said. “And how does the saying go, ‘Hack me once, shame on you, hack me twice, shame on us.’”

The CAP report graded all 50 state election systems based on best practices in seven categories, including security of voter registration databases, use of paper ballots and post-election audits. No states received an A, 11 states received a B, and five states received failing grades.

Johnson said not enough lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle view hacking as a direct threat to democracy.

“If you can target key precincts in swing states and influence the outcome there, you can influence the national outcome of a presidential election,” Johnson said.

Jamil Jaffer, the founder of the National Security Institute, said that election security is a bipartisan issue and a national security issue.

“This needs to be a partnership between federal and state governments,” Jaffer said. “There is an opportunity there, but I’m worried we’re too late for 2018.”