Missouri spending millions on election security

Missouri is spending more than $7.2 million in federal grant money to improve election security, although some upgrades won�t be implemented in time for the 2018 elections, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft said Monday.

Still, he assured voters their votes will count and they should not be overly concerned about hacking by Russia or other entities.

The federal government told election officials in 21 states last year hackers targeted their systems before the 2016 presidential election. Still, according to The Associated Press, being targeted does not mean sensitive voter data was manipulated or results changed.

In a phone interview with the Southeast Missourian, Ashcroft said there is �no evidence� any votes or voter registrations were changed as a result of cyberattacks in the 2016 election.

But Ashcroft said election authorities in Missouri and other states �have stepped up their game� to improve election security.

Missouri has spent some of its federal funds to update its cybersecurity in advance of the Aug. 7, primary election, Ashcroft said.

He said his office also plans to improve security for its statewide, electronic list of registered voters, but that won�t be implemented this year.

�That is not a fast process. We have to work with local election authorities to make sure we do it right,� Ashcroft said.

U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said last week Russian hackers tried unsuccessfully last August to break into the senator�s computer network.

Ashcroft said anyone with an email account can be targeted by hackers. Phishing is a constant risk posed by those who seek to steal computerized data, he said.

Ashcroft said his state office combats phishing attacks daily.

�We train our individuals how to recognize phishing attacks. We have systems that are designed to detect outbound data,� he said.

The Republican officeholder said election authorities in Missouri are focused on all types of election security.

�We need to protect against cyberattacks. We need to protect against voter impersonation. We need to protect against absentee-ballot fraud. We need to protect against someone being turned away because the poll worker wasn�t well enough trained,� Ashcroft said.

He dismissed criticism from the Center for American Progress, which bills itself as an independent, nonpartisan policy institute.

The center last year gave Missouri a �D� grade on election security. It criticized the state for, among other things, allowing �voters stationed or living overseas to return voted ballots electronically, a practice election security experts say is notoriously insecure.�

But Ashcroft said that practice is restricted to a small number of active military personnel who are stationed where mailed absentee ballots �would never get to them� in time for the election.

The policy institute also said Missouri needs a better postelection system to audit votes. But Ashcroft said Missouri�s practice of auditing 6 percent of the votes cast is more than sufficient.

�Some of these people (critics) wouldn�t be happy even if we checked every ballot,� he said.

Evidence of voter fraud is greater than anything involving hacking, Ashcroft said.

In 2016, a judge overturned the results of two elections in Missouri and ordered new elections. In addition, two relatives of a state senator in Missouri pleaded guilty to illegally voting in an election, Ashcroft said.

�My job is to make sure if you are a registered voter that your vote will count,� he said. �Let�s not get so focused on cybersecurity that we forget other things.�

mbliss@semissourian.com

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