The Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday released recommendations for election security after reviewing "Russian attempts to target election infrastructure during the 2016 U.S. elections."
The panel recommends that states "rapidly replace outdated and vulnerable voting systems," and that "any machine purchased going forward should have a voter-verified paper trail and no WiFi capability."
"We are talking with them about the fact that it is probably best that you do not have your election system connected to the internet, because that would create a greater vulnerability," Committee member Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., said at a press conference, according to Roll Call.
"Look at where we are now in this year of our Lord 2018, we’re talking about paper ballots," she said. "But that actually might be one of the smartest systems, going back to, you know, something tangible that we can hold on to, because Russia cannot hack a piece of paper like they can a computer system connected to the internet."
The committee also recommends that the U.S. "should clearly communicate to adversaries that an attack on our election infrastructure is a hostile act, and we will respond accordingly," improve information sharing on threats between agencies, and create updated and secure voting infrastructure using increased funding.
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