In July, “States slow to prepare for hacking threats — Most states aren’t planning to use federal funds to make major election upgrades before November” described the lack of enthusiasm for hardening the attack surface of our election systems, especially in red states. But with national attention on the upcoming election, they’ve made at least some progress on that. Right?
The federal government has prodded the states to take election security seriously with their customary alacrity and zeal. Which is to say, not at all. And there’s one main reason:
The concern around election security is attributed, at least in part, to a lack of information-sharing between government agencies, officials said. But even if there was smooth inter-agency coordination, officials said they would still face one major hurdle: the White House’s unwillingness to talk about the main meddler in the 2016 presidential elections, Russia.
“We should have been doing meetings and talking about this two years ago,” one individual who was involved in a recent election briefing said. “There’s only been one or two meetings with the president on this because people have learned that if you want to keep your job you don’t bring up Russian interference in the White House.”
Officials across three different agencies told The Daily Beast the government as a whole has largely failed to coordinate efforts to curb outside meddling, which has many inside the intelligence community worried the country is yet again vulnerable to interference in its elections. President Trump has at times snapped at officials who broach the Russian meddling subject and instead, current and former senior intelligence officials said, has turned the conversation to what some believe is a red herring — China.
“(It) could have been China, could have been a lot of different groups.” And it’s true that government-backed hacks have been launched by various countries, including China, North Korea, Iran, and Saudi Arabia.
It’s also true that non-state actors routinely muck around with cyber-infiltration:
There are also "sub-state level actors getting involved" with election hacking around the world, said Little Limbago. "Multinational corporations like Cambridge Analytica, which we hear a lot about in relation to our 2016 election," were also involved in the 2013 and 2017 Kenya elections and employ "a broad range of interference that goes beyond traditional marketing."
Nevertheless,
Facebook, Twitter and Google have also discovered evidence of hackers using technology platforms to stage cyberattacks targeting the 2018 midterm elections. Though the major tech companies were unwilling to attribute the hacks to any particular organization or country, former CIA acting director Michael Morell said there is "no doubt that the Russians are behind the effort."
[…] Russia acts for political reasons, while "China hacks the United States to steal" intellectual property, said one security expert who chose not to be identified because his employer does business with Chinese companies. "Russia is engaged with mucking around with politics all over Europe and the U.S. China does hack elsewhere, but their goals in the U.S. today are mostly economic."
Voter suppression isn’t enough for the despicable GOP. Voter disenfranchisement isn’t enough for these cretins. Lying and cheating aren’t enough. They also have to steal the election in order to win it.
Because their ideas and policies don’t work for the majority of Americans. They serve the privileged few. And they intend to keep it that way.
All we can do is — VOTE!
Tell folks in Georgia to take their photo ID to the polls and VOTE!
Tell folks on North Dakota reservations to show up and VOTE!
Even if the Congressional races in your area look hopelessly red, VOTE ANYWAY because
- State legislatures control redistricting/gerrymandering — vote Team Blue for state legislature
- State secretaries of state administer elections — vote Team Blue for governor and secretary of state
And if possible, vote early! By voting early, you’ll know immediately if there’s a problem with your voter registration record. If there is, call the Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE to see if they know of a way to restore your full voting rights before Election Day. Even if it’s past the voting registration deadline in your state and you’re forced to cast a provisional ballot, you can still
- lodge a complaint with your federal and state representatives
- lodge a complaint with your county’s board of elections and your state’s secretary of state
- alert other voters to potential problems by raising holy hell in the press!
There are many forms of civic engagement, including participating in this forum. Whatever else you do, at a bare minimum, VOTE!
PS. One more reason to vote: the Republicans don’t want you to. So get out there and VOTE!