21 U.S. States Targeted By Russia In Election

Two Department of Homeland Security officials confirmed this week that internet-connected election networks and websites in 21 states were targeted by Russian hackers in 2016. Acting DHS deputy undersecretary Dr. Samuel Liles and acting deputy undersecretary for cybersecurity and communications Jeanette Manfra refused to name the targeted states whose voter registration files were targeted. In a separate hearing, DHS secretary Jeh Johnson defended his attempt to designate electoral systems as critical infrastructure as the threat of Russian interference grew in mid-to-late 2016. Some state election officials accused the federal government of trying to strip states of their sovereignty. “This was a profound misunderstanding of what a critical infrastructure designation would mean, which I tried to clarify for them,” Johnson wrote in a prepared statement. All of the officials testified that they have not seen any evidence that presidential vote tallies were altered, with Liles emphasizing that any large-scale effort to modify votes would have been detected.