Washington, D.C. - June 14, 2019 - (The Ponder News) -- The Defending the Integrity of Voting Systems Act has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The bill would make it a federal crime to hack voting systems, allowing the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute those who seek to manipulate election systems equipment in federal elections.
Tennesseans have already been victims of hacking. A now defunct Twitter account posing as the Tennessee Republican Party in 2016 was actually an account run by Russians with 100,000 followers. In 2018, the Knox County Election Commission website was the victim of a cyberattack that didn’t change any election results but did shut down the site for a period of time on election night.
Bipartisan experts agree that paper ballot machines, which provide an auditable back-up in the event of an attack, are the best way to ensure the integrity of our system. The federal government has appropriated funds to the states to help convert to paper ballot machines.
Republicans Rep. Ben Cline (R-VA), Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) and Rep. Greg Steube (R-FL) and Democrats Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT), and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) are co-sponsoring the bill.