Fourteen states also use election voting machines that provide no paper trail — making it all but impossible to audit results. “Russia cannot hack a piece of paper like they can a computer system connected to the Internet,” said Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), one of a quartet of panel members tasked to lead the report on recommendations. In 2002, when the federal government passed legislation to modernize election systems in the wake of the controversial 2000 election, Congress budgeted more than $3 billion to help states. Presently, lawmakers are looking at approving about $380 million in grants for states to improve their election security as part of a broader budget bill Congress must pass by Friday. But senators on the committee are not in clear agreement about whether the federal government should be getting more involved.

Source: Washington Post March 20, 2018 19:27 UTC