The United State’s electoral process may be vulnerable to attack according to a new report released by the Brennan Center for Justice. Private companies that build voting equipment and voter registration databases play an indispensable role in elections, yet they lack federal oversight. The report urges Congress to establish a voluntary federal certification process for election vendors, giving federal officials the ability to monitor compliance and create federal standards for voting equipment.
However, if measures are taken to enact these policies, co-author Lawrence Norden states that it’s too late for the 2020 presidential election. Voter security and cybersecurity are at risk when these election machines lack federal oversight, and this specific vulnerability in the electoral process has gone unmentioned in Congress despite an influx in election security funding. The role of private vendors in U.S. elections makes them particularly vulnerable to attack, and it is imperative that ownership and cybersecurity measures are verified through investigating these vendors.
Read More: Report: Election Vendors Are ‘Prime Targets,’ Need Oversight
