Editorial: Keeping Washington's voter rolls safe from hackers
With county election offices in Washington state wrapping up their counts of straggling ballots, the Nov. 6 general election can be viewed as a success, with none of the controversy and drama seen in Florida, for example.
The Secretary of State’s elections office estimates about 120,000 ballots remain to be counted before the election can be certified later this month, including about 1,900 in Snohomish County and 500 in Island County. A handful of races may require machine recounts, including the race for Position 2 in the 10th Legislative District where Democrat Dave Paul leads incumbent Republican Rep. Dave Hayes by about 340 votes, very close to the 0.5 percentage point difference that triggers a recount.
The other success reflected in the ballots this election was the sheer number of them. With nearly 3.1 million ballots returned by the more than 4.3 million registered voters, turnout is expected to top 71 percent, very near the turnout record for midterm elections that was set in 1958.
Credit that turnout on higher interest because of the unofficial referendum on President Trump’s first two years in office and four high-profile statewide ballot measures, but also on recent efforts by Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s office and state lawmakers to streamline voter registration and voting, including a temporary fix that meant voters didn’t have to affix postage to their ballots to mail them for the primary and general elections.
So, we’re all set for elections next year and in 2020, right?
Some cybersecurity experts aren’t convinced.
A report this week by the McClatchy Washington Bureau shared analysis by cybersecurity experts who claimed to have found vulnerabilities in the voter registration system of Washington state and North Carolina that were similar, “but much less porous” than those found in Georgia’s election systems.
https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-keeping-washingtons-voter-rolls-safe-from-hackers/?utm_source=DAILY+HERALD&utm_campaign=3cfc540aa4-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d81d073bb4-3cfc540aa4-228635337
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I'm glad we got one of the good ones, who takes her job seriously and works to complete the people's business.
