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Russian Cyberattack Targeted Elections Vendor Tied To Voting Day Disruptions

Overview

"When people in several North Carolina precincts showed up to vote last November, weird things started to happen with the electronic systems used to check them in. 'Voters were going in and being told that they had already voted — and they hadn't,' recalls Allison Riggs, an attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. The electronic systems — known as poll books — also indicated that some voters had to show identification, even though they did not. Investigators later discovered the company that provided those poll books had been the target of a Russian cyberattack."

Why is this important?

The company providing key voting systems for North Carolina was targeted by Russian cyberattacks, according to NPR. Those systems went haywire on election day in locations that were overwhelmingly pro-Clinton, and thus attractive targets for voter suppression.

Creator

Pam Fessler

Publication Date

August 10, 2017