Obama Administration Takes Over Election System After Declaring It “Critical Infrastructure”

Just one day after the intelligence community released a declassified version of its report regarding alleged Russian hacking in the November election, the Obama administration announced that it has declared the nation’s election systems as “critical infrastructure” and thus will take control of them. The announcement was made by Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who previously stated that the department might have to do just this even before the election:

“I have determined that election infrastructure in this country should be designated as a subsector of the existing Government Facilities critical infrastructure sector. Given the vital role elections play in this country, it is clear that certain systems and assets of election infrastructure meet the definition of critical infrastructure, in fact and in law.

I have reached this determination so that election infrastructure will, on a more formal and enduring basis, be a priority for cybersecurity assistance and protections that the Department of Homeland Security provides to a range of private and public sector entities. By “election infrastructure,” we mean storage facilities, polling places, and centralized vote tabulations locations used to support the election process, and information and communications technology to include voter registration databases, voting machines, and other systems to manage the election process and report and display results on behalf of state and local governments.

Of course, it’s likely not a coincidence that the DHS made this announcement just hours after the “intelligence community” declassified their “Russian Hacking” propaganda which basically noted that RT has a very effective social media distribution platform while once again providing absolutely no actual evidence.

Johnson’s statement goes on to note that while many “state and local election officials are opposed to this designation” he went ahead with his decision anyway, because that’s just what the Obama administration does.”

Source: Zerohedge