US midterms: Georgia Republican Brian Kemp opens cyber probe, blames Democrats on eve of vote
- Georgia’s voting system is among the most exposed and vulnerable in the United States
- No data was breached and federal authorities have been alerted
Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the Republican nominee for governor in Tuesday’s election, announced a last-minute investigation into the Democrats “for possible cybercrimes”.
On Sunday, Kemp’s office said there was “a failed attempt to hack the state’s voter registration system” on Saturday and an investigation had been opened into the Democratic Party of Georgia. No data was breached, it said.
Kemp’s announcement came after news site WhoWhatWhy described vulnerabilities cited by Democrats, but the report said nothing about hacking attempts. WhoWhatWhy spoke with cybersecurity experts who said a breach could not be tracked in the voter registration system.
Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for Kemp, told the news site the experts were “wrong” and unfamiliar with the system’s security.
Rebecca DeHart, executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia, said Kemp’s claims were “100 per cent false” and “abuse of power”.
“This political stunt from Kemp just days before the election is yet another example of why he cannot be trusted and should not be overseeing an election in which he is also a candidate,” DeHart said.
