Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently announced that Russian hackers breached the election systems in two Florida counties leading up to the 2016 election. He says no votes were changed, and that the systems accessed were completely separate from voting and tabulation machines. But, he also said he had to sign a nondisclosure agreement with the FBI to not reveal which counties had been hacked.
The governor went on to say that the hackers used what’s called a spear-phishing campaign, where they used email addresses designed to look like a voting system vendor, to trick workers in election offices into giving them access to their networks.
Earlier today, the governor’s office sent out a press release saying he is directing Secretary of State Laurell Lee to immediately initiate a review of the security and cybersecurity of Florida’s elections systems. And that the Department of State is “committed to providing resources to help ensure the safety and security of Florida’s elections and the protection of voter information.”
We’re going to try to get a handle on what this all means, and what can be done as we head toward the 2020 election to ensure the integrity of the voting process here in Florida, starting with a pre-taped interview with Ion Sancho. He spent 28 years as the Leon County Supervisor of Elections, and is a long time, vocal advocate for election transparency. He was featured in the 2006 HBO documentary Hacking Democracy, which explored problems with electronic voting machines in the 2000 and 2004 elections. We'll also talk with Susannah Goodman, she is Director of Election Security at Common Cause.
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