“Based on the indictments unveiled last week against Russians who conspired to interfere with our 2016 election and revelations that stolen material about election candidates was distributed in Pennsylvania and other states, I am expanding the scope of my audit outreach to protect Pennsylvania’s election system,” DePasquale said.
“Despite the embarrassing display from the president yesterday on foreign soil, I believe there are good people working at the FBI, Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Attorney’s office. I am reaching out them today because it is clear the president has no interest in protecting the integrity of our elections.
“We cannot trust this president to do the right thing to protect the nation’s election system. We need to come up with our own plan to help prevent outside interference in Pennsylvania’s election process,” he said.
DePasquale sent letters to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the FBI and the three U.S. Attorney’s offices in Pennsylvania to begin discussions on how best to protect the state’s systems against election interference in the future.
The new audit outreach will enhance the recommendations in the audit DePasquale announced in June to evaluate the integrity and security of Pennsylvania’s voting system. That audit is based in part on information provided by Homeland Security last year confirming that Pennsylvania was one of 21 states Russian hackers targeted prior to the 2016 election.
DePasquale also raised alarms about news that Russian oligarch Vladimir Potanin is the largest investor in ByteGrid LLC, the company that manages Maryland’s voter registration system.
“Pennsylvania is currently reviewing options to modernize its election systems, and I want to ensure that any system Pennsylvania may use now and in the future is wholly owned, controlled and managed by a firm with American interests,” DePasquale said.
“I will use my authority to review current vendors to ensure there are no connections to Russia and that processes are in place to make sure this doesn’t happen here. I have always said in my audits that vendor selection is up to the agency, but I want to be clear that there is no room for any contractor with Russian ties to be working on our election systems as allegedly has happened in Maryland.
“The integrity of our entire election system is at stake,” he said. “I will be doing my part to protect America’s and Pennsylvania’s interests. We simply cannot allow Russian operatives or other interference undermine our country’s democratic process.”
