Russian hackers likely to target Florida again in 2020 election, experts warn

Florida was targeted in the 2016 election as a critical swing state and ‘should assume they will be targeted again’

Peter Stone in Washington
Tue 27 Aug 2019 07.00 BST Last modified on Tue 27 Aug 2019 13.03 BST

Florida’s record as a vital swing state made it a target for meddling in the 2016 election when Russians breached two county voting systems and a software vendor and now concerns are being raised about voting security in the state for the 2020 ballot, say election and cyber security experts, federal reports and Democrats.

With FBI director Christopher Wray and other intelligence officials predicting more Russian and possibly other foreign interference in the next elections, experts say Florida is again a likely target for Russian hackers, or others bent on disrupting voting, which potentially could alter tallies and create other problems.

“Obviously, Florida will be a critical state in 2020 and Florida election officials should assume they will be targeted again,” said Larry Norden, who runs the election reform program at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Election security experts are concerned about several potential problem areas, including software that stores sensitive voter registration data, the short timetable for any post-election audits and Florida’s history of voting snafus.

-snip-