Home News FBI Warns Florida Elections Officials Hackers Tried To Break Into Voting System

FBI Warns Florida Elections Officials Hackers Tried To Break Into Voting System

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Michael Carter, left, and a worker test ballot scanners Thursday at the Hillsborough County supervisor of elections headquarters in Tampa. A team of representatives will test 340 machines, one machine per polling place, to prepare for the Nov. 8 election. (CHRIS URSO | Times )

Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation held a secret conference call with all 67 county supervisors of elections in Florida on Friday afternoon to discuss the security of voters’ ballots ahead of the November election.

One elections supervisor told the Times/Herald that the FBI informed supervisors of “a malicious act found in a jurisdiction” in Florida, but he stressed “we’ve not been hacked” and nothing was found to have happened at the state level, such as with Florida’s voter registration system.

“It was a good call in that they were proactive, and we need to have federal and state authorities working together,” Leon County Elections Supervisor Ian Sancho said. “I would warn people against jumping to any conclusions. . . . The positive and aggressive discussion we had is exactly what we need to do to be secure for Nov. 8.”

Florida Department of State spokeswoman Meredith Beatrice acknowledged the department “participated in an informational call related to elections security” that the FBI convened.

[vc_btn title=”More on FBI and Florida elections” style=”outline” color=”primary” link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tampabay.com%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Fstateroundup%2Ffbi-warns-election-officials-that-hackers-tried-to-break-into-florida%2F2296035|title:More%20on%20FBI%20and%20Florida%20elections|target:%20_blank|”][vc_message message_box_style=”3d” message_box_color=”turquoise”]By Kristen M. Clark, Michael Auslen and Steve Bousquet, Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau, Tampa Bay Times, excerpt posted on SouthFloridaReporter.com Oct. 1, 2016 [/vc_message]

1 COMMENT

  1. The only way to insure the Russians don’t hack the voting machines and put in Trump is to have a HAND COUNT OF ALL THE BALLOTS. This is exactly what paper ballots are for. This is now the consensus of election experts everywhere. It is vital that everyone read this article by Professor Elizabeth Clarkson, at Real Clear Politics: “To Avoid Vote-Counting Fraud, Use Paper Ballots” http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2016/09/07/to_avoid_vote-counting_fraud_use_paper_ballots_131712.html

    If FBI Director Comey is sincere that he does not want the election hacked, then he should put his weight behind a campaign to HAND COUNT ALL THE PAPER BALLOTS, IN PUBLIC AND WITH OBSERVERS. Otherwise HE will be responsible for putting in Trump. Go to http://HandCountTheBallots.com