NC officials propose ways to beef up election security

The State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement is asking lawmakers to tweak various laws when they return to session in May in order to provide more security to voting systems.

Posted 8:46 p.m. Feb 27, 2018 — Updated 12:01 a.m. Feb 28, 2018

Matthew Burns

, WRAL.com senior producer/politics editor

RALEIGH, N.C. — The State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement is asking lawmakers to tweak various laws when they return to session in May in order to provide more security to voting systems.

State elections director Kim Strach sent a letter Tuesday to Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, and Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, who co-chair the Joint Legislative Elections Oversight Committee outlining the proposals in the wake of Russian efforts to hack election systems in 2016.

"Much has transpired since the Department of Homeland Security designated the elections sector as critical infrastructure in January 2017," Strach wrote. "We, along with the nation, have gained a disturbing but more accurate understanding of the threats confronting systems that administer elections."

Although no hacking was found in North Carolina, Strach noted that "[v]ulnerabilities are not all external." A Durham County elections worker, for example, pleaded guilty to altering vote counts in the 2016 primary to cover up mishandling of provisional ballots.

Following are some of the state laws elections officials want changed:

Voting systems shouldn't be connected to any wired or wireless networks. Officials said nearly every county already complies with this standard.
Only electronic voter check-in systems that have been certified by state elections officials can be used at the polls. Last November, a judge overruled elections officials who tried to block one system that hadn't been certified from being used in various counties.
State officials should create a secure electronic transmission system for applying for and receiving absentee and overseas military ballots to defeat phishing efforts that pose as ballots from overseas voters and introduce malware into election systems.
Make it a misdemeanor for anyone who isn't a county elections employee to copy voter records, which include Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal information.
Allow for criminal background checks for all full-time or temporary elections workers.

In addition to the recommended changes to state law, Strach also appealed to Lewis and Hise for funding to hire a staffer to handle information security, to provide matching grants to county elections boards seeking to replace aging voting equipment and to update the state network that manages all registration and elections in North Carolina.

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