Welcome to Wednesday, September 18th, XSs to XXXLs...

Voting machines are like any other computer—the older they get, the more vulnerable they become to novel cyberattacks.

And if Russia hacked an electronic voting machine during the 2020 election, how would we know?

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence advised that states should replace outdated and vulnerable voting systems with “at minimum…a voter-verified paper trail.”

Paper-based systems would allow voters – and election officials – to review their records.

In 2018, Congress provided $380 million for states to upgrade their voting machines, but security experts have said it’s not enough. The Brennan Center for Justice found that “many election officials would like to replace their equipment before 2020 but do not currently have the funds to do so.”

Worst case scenario? A foreign power, or foreign actors, change voters’ ballots, throwing results in key races and causing the American electorate to question the veracity of all election results. Without a paper-trail, auditing the election results - and verifying the total - would be near impossible.

Read what Congress, states, and the federal government are doing to prepare for 2020, then tell your reps:

Are you concerned about voting security in the 2020 election?

On the Radar

Religious Businesses Can Refuse LGBT Customers

The Arizona Supreme Court has ruled that businesses have a right to discriminate against same-sex couples on free speech grounds.

The Grand Canyon State’s highest court sided with two Phoenix women who argued a city ordinance barring discrimination would have forced them to violate their Christian values by creating invitations for same-sex weddings.

“The guarantees of free speech and freedom of religion are not only for those who are deemed sufficiently enlightened, advanced, or progressive. They are for everyone,” Justice Andrew Gould wrote for the majority in the 4-3 decision.

Justice Scott Bales, writing the dissent, said discrimination by a business is precisely what the case was about, “even if that disapproval is based on sincerely held religious beliefs.”

“This case does not concern the content of the made-to-order wedding products, but instead the identity of the customer and end user. Such a refusal constitutes discrimination based on sexual orientation,” Bales wrote.

Should businesses be allowed to refuse service to same-sex couples?

Under the Radar

Bolton's Replacement

President Trump has revealed his top 5 candidates to replace former national security adviser John Bolton:

1. Top hostage negotiator Robert O'Brien
2. Former deputy national security adviser Ricky Waddell
3. Department of Energy Under Secretary for Nuclear Security Lisa Gordon-Hagerty
4. Bolton's former chief of staff Fred Fleitz
5. Vice President Mike Pence's national security adviser Keith Kellogg.

Who would get your vote?

What You're Saying

Here's how you're answering Should VA Programs Helping Rural Vets Be Extended?