WA elections officials promise security precautions in place for midterms

With just three weeks to go before the midterms, Washington elections officials say security precautions are in place to protect your votes.

Gov. Jay Inslee and Secretary of State Kim Wyman joined forces today to answer questions and address voters' concerns on Twitter.

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This after Wyman admitted in September that Russian hackers tried *but* failed to intercept our elections system last November.

“They only have to get it right once,” said Wyman. “We have to get it right 24/7 and that’s what we are trying to do every single time.”

Wyman said in addition to from assistance from cybersecurity experts with the National Guard, $8 million of federal money is being used to enhance our voter registration system through 2020.

This includes installing new computer sensors in elections offices statewide to help detect suspicious online activities.

“We spent all year auditing, testing and improving our systems so we can stay ahead of threats,” said Julie Wise, King County Director of Elections.

Officials said in every county, ballot tabulation machines operate in independent servers which are not connected to the internet.

People still have until Oct. 29 to register to vote in person - before the midterms on Tuesday Nov. 6.

Cox Media Group