The infiltration by foreign countries like China into election voting equipment is emerging as a growing concern among vendors, who are actually asking for more federal regulation as they grapple with a lack of domestic suppliers producing critical technologies .
Top executives of the three largest voting machine vendors—Hart InterCivic, Dominion Voting Systems and Election Systems & Software—told the House Administration Committee Thursday they are hoping for guidance and support from the Department of Homeland Security on how to secure their subcontractors.
The Hill offers a similar take, characterizing this as a “major step for an industry that has come under close scrutiny in recent years due to election security concerns.” Is a bipartisan bill updating HAVA to deal with these concerns a genuine possibility?
Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.), the top Republican on the committee, told The Hill that he “certainly hoped” the hearing would help move legislation forward, while noting the opposition by Republicans to previous Democratic-backed bills that the House has passed.
“There is a lot of agreement between Republicans and Democrats on the committee about what needs to be addressed, we want all machines that are manufactured to be safe and what we all consider un-hackable, but there were some clear differences in opinion on how we get there,” Davis said.
Update: More coverage of the hearing from ABC, highlighting potential cybersecurity threats from Iran and other countries.