Warning: Constant ABSPATH already defined in /home/flanews/public_html/wp-config.php on line 34
Capitol News Service » Blog Archive » US Attorney Pledges to Protect Florida Against Election Interference

Welcome to

Capitol News Service

Florida's Best Political Coverage on Television

US Attorney Pledges to Protect Florida Against Election Interference

November 1st, 2019 by Mike Vasilinda

A US Attorney and other state and federal officials made a show of force Friday, trying to assure the public that they and others are already paying close attention to security for the 2020 election.

They promised transparency, but also cautioned specifics would be slim.

Governor Ron DeSantis confirmed earlier this year hackers got into two Florida county voter databases back in 2016.

“There was no manipulation or anything,” said DeSantis.

Published reporters point to Washington and Sumpter counties, but software used by the two is very similar to that used by the majority of elections supervisors in the state.

“This is a very real threat,” said Secretary of State Laurel Lee.

Lee confirmed this week it is an on going battle.

“Every single day, domestic actors and foreign actors attempt to penetrate our Department of State networks and the networks of supervisors of elections around our state,” said Lee.

Now, in a show of force, Lee, Florida’s US Attorney for the Northern District, the FBI and elections supervisors are trying to reassure the public they are watching.

“As we stand here today we are nearly one year, 368 days from election day 2020. We are all here to make clear that we will use each of those 368 days to safeguard our election process,” said US Attorney Lawrence Keefe.

And the FBI confirmed what Lee said earlier this week.

“Countries across the Globe are deploying efforts to strengthen themselves and weaken the United States,” said Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Jacksonville office Rachel Rojas.

The state has spent about $18 million on election security since the last election, but as one official put it, ‘We’re in race with no finish line’.

Which means lawmakers will be asked for more cash this Spring.

The State was asked multiple times to confirm the identity of the two hacked counties.

It refused to do so and said details of future incidents, if there are any, would be few and far between to protect the quality of their information.

Posted in State News | No Comments »

Comments are closed.

copyright © 2016 by Capitol News Service | Powered by Wordpress | Hosted by LyonsHost.com