'Bad Actors' Link To MD Election Software Concerns Gov. Hogan

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan says he is concerned “bad actors” could try to influence the state’s election system after learning that the software runs on a Russian company’s platform. State leaders must evaluate the security of the voter registration system to ensure November’s election is free of outside influences, he said.

The FBI recently told Hogan that the voter registration system and other online systems run on a software platform owned by a Russian-financed firm, WBAL TV reports. News of the Russian link to the state’s election system came out as 12 members of Russian military intelligence were indicted this week in the probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. The criminal charges offered what appeared to be the most damning evidence to date of Russia’s direct meddling in the 2016 U.S. elections.

Announcement of the indictments came Friday, two days before President Trump is due to meet with President Vladimir Putin in a one-on-one meeting in Helsinki.

All 12 of those indicted are accused of engaging in a sustained effort to hack the computer networks of Democratic organizations and Hillary Clinton’s campaigns. They were members of Russian military intelligence known as GRU, which is tightly controlled by Putin.

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State election officials said the Maryland system is not mentioned in the federal indictment, WBAL reports.

A vendor contracted by the Maryland State Board of Elections to provide services, including voter registration infrastructure, had been acquired by a parent company with financial ties to a Russian national, Hogan said.

“While the information relayed to us did not indicate that any wrongdoing or criminal acts have been discovered, we are fast approaching an election in November, and even the appearance of the potential for bad actors to have any influence on our election infrastructure could undermine public trust in the integrity of our election system,” Hogan said in a statement Friday afternoon. “That is why it is imperative that the State Board of Elections take immediate and comprehensive action to evaluate the security of our system and take any and all necessary steps to address any vulnerabilities.

Maryland leaders have written to Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen to ask that the DHS Office of Cybersecurity and Communications help the state evaluate the network used by the Maryland State Board of Elections, including auditing the integrity of the network.

“We will continue to closely monitor the situation in the coming days and weeks to ensure that all Maryland voters can have faith in the integrity of our election system,” Hogan said.

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