A state election official, speaking Tuesday in Bloomington, said elections are secure, but acknowledged cybersecurity threats can and do erode confidence in the system.
“If people are not confident their voter data is being held securely, then they’re not going to register to vote, and consequently they’re not going to vote. They’re not going to take part in the system,” said Matt Dietrich, public information officer for the Illinois Board of Elections.
Dietrich spoke at the League of Women Voters of McLean County's Membership Kick-off event at Moses Montefiore Temple in Bloomington.
Russian cybersecurity threats were a key point of the evening. Many were alerted to the idea when Russian actors compromised some Illinois voters' registration data in 2016, said Dietrich, adding efforts to interfere in elections has escalated ever since.
The LWV event promoted the league's goals to help voters access registration and reliable information ahead of the election in November. The LWV also presented Georgene Chissell with the Florence Fifer Bohrer Award for her efforts in, among other endeavors, advocating for unhoused people and chairing the Bloomington-Normal NAACP’s political action committee.
According to Dietrich, another indirect way to impact elections is to sow division and disinformation on social media, an activity in which Russia also has actively engaged in. He encouraged voters to exercise skepticism and critical thought for any election information they find on social media because the sources can include misinformation to being outright malicious.
The events of the Jan. 6, 2021 attempt to violently disrupt certification of the 2020 presidential election showed many people what the result of election fear mongering can lead to, said Dietrich. The current race has seen its share of political violence in the form of two assassination attempts against GOP nominee Donald Trump, and last Friday, Dietrich’s office in Springfield received a suspicious package from a hostile group containing a white powder.
No one was harmed in the incident, and Dietrich said his office was prepared because offices in other states had already received similar packages.
“It’s not as if we’re terrified of these things,” he said “But it is just a little bit unnerving that this kind of thing is going on, especially in light of the real political violence we’ve had over just this summer.”
Dietrich isn’t sure whether to expect more threatening behavior, but noted election offices are more prepared than when his tenure began in 2018. His office now has a special device that scans all mail for potential dangerous contents.
Confidence is high
Amid a whirlwind of dubious information and malicious actors, there was perhaps one major positive take-away from the evening. That is, Dietrich said, the voting process itself has not been compromised, and cannot be . Ballot scanners and the computers that update them are never connected to the internet as a safeguard against remote intrusion — and all stages of the election procedure are subject to bipartisan scrutiny.
“Be confident in your election system,” Dietrich advised voters, adding, “Make sure that you’re registered to vote, and participate.”
Dietrich invited citizens who are skeptical to observe elections and ask questions of their local officials. He also encouraged early voting as a way to avoid crowds, and put less stress on staff working closer to and on election day.
Early voting in Illinois for the Nov. 5 election begins on Thursday, Sept. 26.
