On the Radar

FBI Changes Policy, Will Now Notify State Officials About Election Hacking

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said Thursday it will now notify state officials about any attempts to hack their election systems, rather than just the direct victims of cyberattacks (which in this case would be the counties that own and operate election equipment).

The change in policy comes after criticism that the agency wasn’t doing enough to inform states of election threats.

“As we approach 2020, we took a look at how we were doing business with a specific eye toward increasing visibility,” a senior FBI official said during a media briefing. The previous policy had at times provided state officials with an “incomplete knowledge of the election security landscape within their state.”

In Florida's 2018 Senate race, then-Sen. Bill Nelson (D) said he'd learned Russians hacked some Florida voting systems, an allegation based on classified intelligence. Then-Gov. Rick Scott (R) accused Nelson of making up the story. Scott won the election. A few months later, Robert Mueller revealed that Russian hackers had, in fact, gained access to a voter registration network in Florida.

Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who has continued to raise concerns about the FBI policy, said:

"All of this is welcome news, but it is not enough. I will continue to push for federal officials to provide more information to the voting public when foreign powers interfere with our democracy.”

Should the FBI notify state officials about election hacking?

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