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Expert: Illinois needs $175 million to upgrade election cybersecurity

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Illinois

* Hannah Meisel at the Daily Line…

A program that offers cybersecurity expertise to the state’s 108 local election authorities in an effort to ensure election security will continue “indefinitely,” according to Illinois’ top elections official.

Illinois State Board of Elections Director Steve Sandvoss said his agency, in tandem with the Department of Innovation and Technology, will keep nine cyber navigators on the payroll to travel the state to help local election authorities with upgrading their cybersecurity infrastructure and practices.

Sandvoss told The Daily Line that the cyber navigators have completed the first phase of a multi-stage process. That first phase included identifying vulnerabilities in the systems of each of the state’s local election authorities. Some local elections agencies need more help than others, Sandvoss said.

“It’s a matter of working with those election authorities to address those vulnerabilities,” Sandvoss said. “And if they need money to do it, we have grant money that we got from the federal government. There’s an application process they can take advantage of to get money to pay for security upgrades that are needed.”

* Peter Hancock at Capitol News Illinois…

That $13.2 million [for cyber navigator programs] was Illinois’ share of $380 million Congress appropriated nationwide for election security in 2018. But now, as the 2020 elections approach, the U.S. House and Senate have been at loggerheads over how much to spend for additional election security.

The Democrat-controlled House has authorized $600 million, while the Republican-controlled Senate has agreed to just $250 million. […]

But Elizabeth Howard of the Brennan Center for Justice’s Democracy Program, said even the $600 million contained in the House plan wouldn’t be enough. She estimated the cost of securing the entire country’s election system at $2.2 billion.

That would encompass $750 million to replace “antiquated paperless voting machines” throughout the country, including $175 million in Illinois alone; $100 million for post-election audits over the next five years; $500 million for voter registration cybersecurity improvements; and $830 million to extend cyber navigator programs like the one in Illinois nationwide.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Oct 17, 19 @ 2:25 pm

Comments

With all the concerns about hacking, wouldn’t you think that the priority would be to replace all the electronic voting machines with paper ballots? Not only is that cheaper in the long run, but it seems easier too.

Comment by Just Another Anon Thursday, Oct 17, 19 @ 2:32 pm
As a mild age man growing up in the US, I cannot fathom how we don’t have election security paid for by the nation.

The notion the elections are rigged is so depressing that it contributes to apathy; especially in young people.

How on earth, in the land of the brave, did we fail ourselves so miserably?

Comment by 33rd ward Thursday, Oct 17, 19 @ 2:45 pm
Methinks some computer experts are looking for a government handout. Twenty million a year for post-election audits just in Illinois for systems that aren’t even connected to the internet. Come on. This is why people don’t take studies seriously.

Comment by Downstate Illinois Thursday, Oct 17, 19 @ 5:12 pm