Senate Intel Committee releases recommendations to shore up election security

The U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence has concluded that the country’s election infrastructure remains resilient despite Russian attempts to hack state voting systems, but the committee released recommendations on Tuesday to better defend against future attempts to undermine democracy.

In a press conference announcing the recommendations, U.S. Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), the committee’s chairman, said there’s “no evidence that any vote was changed” in the 2016 election. However, Russia attempted to penetrate election systems in 21 states and gained access to a voter registration database in Illinois.

“Russia was trying to undermine the confidence of our election system. We’re here to express concerns, but also confidence in our state and local governments,” Burr said. “…We very much support state control of the election process. We think there are ways the federal government can support those states, but clearly, we’ve got to get some standards in place that assure every state that at the end of the day they can certify their vote totals.”

The committee recommended that the U.S. government advance a doctrine of deterrence that makes the consequences of attacks on U.S. election infrastructure clear to hostile actors. The committee also recommended that the U.S. government work with its allies to establish new international cyber norms.

“DHS and FBI have made great strides, but they must do more,” Burr said. “DHS offers a suite of a cybersecurity assistance, but we’ve heard that they do not have the resources to fulfill all the requests.”

The committee recommended that the intelligence community put a high priority on quickly attributing cyber attacks and that DHS establish clear channels of communications between federal, state and local officials. The committee also recommended that DHS work with election experts to develop cybersecurity best practices and public awareness campaigns to promote election security and awareness.

Additional recommendations include replacement of “outdated and vulnerable” election systems and DHS partnering with vendors to address liabilities in voting machines and supply chains. The committee also recommended that states conduct more widespread audits on election results.

The committee’s recommendations also call for additional federal assistance to states, including a voluntary grant program. The committee concluded that states should have more resources to enhance cybersecurity, to hire information technology staff, to update software and to contract with vendors providing cybersecurity services.