Here & Now

Magney Discusses Russian Hack, New Administrator

Frederica Freyberg:

A first look tonight at what state officials are saying about reports Wisconsin voting systems were hacked by the Russians. This week, NBC News aired a report that said Wisconsin was one of seven states where state websites or voter registration systems were compromised ahead of the 2016 election, but that federal intelligence officials officials never told Wisconsin or the other states. The news report attributed their information to three unnamed senior intelligence officials. What gives? Because Wisconsin election officials have repeatedly said this did not happen. Meanwhile, this morning the State Elections Commission forwarded the name of a new administrator to the Senate for confirmation, Megan Wolfe. Lots to go over. So for the second week in a row, we turn to Reid Magney, Public Information Officer for the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Reid, thanks a lot for being here.

Reid Magney:

You’re welcome.

Frederica Freyberg:

As to that question, what gives?

Reid Magney:

So to the best of our knowledge, we think that NBC was reporting old information. One of the things we’ve learned is that the area of cybersecurity is — and the intelligence that goes behind it, takes a long time to develop information. And it seems like they were using information that somebody thought was current back in January of 2017. Later in June of 2017, Homeland Security said there were 21 states that the Russians targeted and that only one of those, I believe Illinois, was actually — they actually got in. In September of 2017, we found out that Wisconsin was one of the 21 states that had been targeted, meaning they scanned our system. Again, it’s sort of like a burglar casing the joint. Didn’t get in, but it’s still suspicious. What we think is that between the time that there was some initial intelligence back in January 2017 and then later, Homeland Security determined nobody got in. You know, so — and I know it’s confusing because we’ve been saying all along, nobody got in and then this new report comes along.

Frederica Freyberg:

Right.

Reid Magney:

And so —

Frederica Freyberg:

I mean, could it be true that Wisconsin kind of doesn’t know what it doesn’t know? That it’s true that federal intelligence officials never told you?

Reid Magney:

Well, the “never told us” part is — if they thought they knew something back in January of 2017, they didn’t tell us and maybe the reason they didn’t tell us was because they weren’t sure. As the intelligence process goes on and they learn more about it, I think maybe they realized we’d only been scanned. We really don’t know. But we’ve double and triple checked with people at Homeland Security and they say nothing happened.

Frederica Freyberg:

Because that was my next question. Have you been able to unravel who the NBC sources were or hear from additional officials who could refute or sustain that information?

Reid Magney:

We don’t know who NBC is talking to. It sounds like they’re talking to people who saw this classified report back in January of 2017. Does that mean it was people who were in the Obama Administration and have been out of things since then and don’t know what’s current? We don’t know. But we’ve double and triple checked with Homeland Security. There’s nothing new.

Frederica Freyberg:

Regardless, all of this could serve to kind of unnerve the voting public, obviously, and make them question the safety and security of our voting apparatus. So what is your response to that?

Reid Magney:

So we are on top of security planning. We are — we have partners both with Wisconsin's Department of Administration, Division of Enterprise Technology that provides the fire walls, sort of the walled city where our servers live and protect us. We have never had a breach. We have excellent security around the perimeter. We’ve completely encrypted the database. So even if somebody were to get in and steal something, it would be useless to them. We are working very closely with clerks, Homeland Security, the National Guard on making sure that we have all the systems and all the security necessary in place.

Frederica Freyberg:

Meanwhile, the Democratic legislative leaders are calling for an investigation into all of this. What’s your reaction to that?

Reid Magney:

Well, if they’re basing it on the NBC report, that’s old information and that’s what it seemed like they were basing it off, the NBC report. If they would talk to us and find out what’s going on, we’re happy to do it. We’ve been “investigating” this, trying to figure out what these reports are and what’s been going on for months now.

Frederica Freyberg:

The commission today took action to address some people who had been erroneously removed from the voting rolls. What did they do?

Reid Magney:

So we had sent out postcards back in November to about 300,000 people who we believe had moved, based on changes at DMV or other agencies. And what happened is we think maybe a dozen people went to the polls on election day and they weren’t on the poll books, so they had to re-register. We don’t know of anybody who wasn’t able to vote. But to make sure this doesn’t happen in April, we’re going to print essentially a supplement poll list of those people who we thought moved and if the poll workers can’t find you on the main list, they’re going to look on this other list. And if you’re there, you just say, “Oh, I haven’t moved, I'm fine” and you’ll get to vote. If you have actually moved, you will need to re-register. That’s one of the things that I think a lot of people don’t understand. If you move, whether it’s across the street, even across the hall in an apartment building, the law says you have to re-register.

Frederica Freyberg:

Same-day registration. Reid Magney, thanks very much.

Reid Magney:

You’re welcome.