A new advisory panel investigating election security in Pennsylvania is being headed by former U.S. Attorney David Hickton, who is currently the head of the University of Pittsburgh Institute for Cyber Law, Policy and Security.
"It's a gigantic problem," said Hickton. "Not only do we need to do this for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the citizens of the United States, but we are the world's leading example of democracy, and it's just unacceptable that we bear this risk and we can do something about it."
Hickton said Pennsylvania has made some improvements after the Center for American Progress gave the Keystone State a "D" for election security in 2016.
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One of those changes was that every new voting machine must be equipped with a backup paper record. But Hickton said there are still real concerns.
For example, some of the voting machines still used in 500 precincts in Pennsylvania are vulnerable to hacking.
"In 2016, two computer scientists at Princeton did an experiment, and they hacked into [Pennsylvania voting machines] in a matter of minutes," said Hickton.
The advisory panel that will investigate election security in the state comprises of 21 people, including former Allegheny County Executive Jim Roddy, former University of Pittsburgh Chancellor Mark Nordenberg and Urban League of Pittsburgh President Esther Bush.
The panel will examine the cybersecurity of voting machines, tabulation and storage, as well as voter registration rolls and databases.
"We are going to focus on protecting our voter registration rolls, protecting our votes that are cast in the machines, and then something that needs to be done with all cyberthreats is developing a resiliency plan," said Hickton.
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At the Westmoreland County Bureau of Elections in Greensburg, workers were preparing Monday for potential problems created by the new congressional districts.
There used to be four congressional districts in Westmoreland County, but that’s now been reduced to two.
The county is basically divided in half: the eastern part in the 13th district, the western in the 14th.
The Bureau of Elections will have 15 workers manning the phones and computers, ready to answer any questions on Election Day.
Pennsylvania's next election is the primary on Tuesday.
Cox Media Group
