WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Individual states and local precincts are responsible for organizing and running polls in US national elections. As a result, votes are tallied by a hodgepodge of different systems, many of which offer no mechanism to double check results.
"A simple and effective solution to the cybersecurity vulnerability of our voting systems is available immediately: audit the results of elections instead of trying to secure computer systems," King wrote to the leaders of US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee.
"Risk limiting audits can provide a check on computer tallies to solve for malicious tampering and provide authoritative confirmation about the outcome," King’s letter stated.
Fears of voter fraud shadowed the 2016 US presidential election amid fears of partisan tampering at the local level and warnings that foreign hackers could somehow alter the results.