Securing U.S. Election Systems: Designating U.S. Election Systems as Critical Infrastructure and Instituting Election Security Reforms
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NOTE
SECURING U.S. ELECTION SYSTEMS: DESIGNATING U.S.
ELECTION SYSTEMS AS CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE
AND INSTITUTING ELECTION SECURITY REFORMS
Eric Manpearl*
INTRODUCTION
The recent cyber intrusions by Russia into U.S. political parties' servers and
state electoral databases as well as the broad Russian disinformation campaign
during the 2016 presidential election has put the issue of election security at the
forefront of national security concerns. During the campaign, the Russian
government hacked the Democratic National Committee (DNC), Democratic
Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and campaign officials' emails. I
Russian hackers also targeted twenty-one states and breached at least Arizona's
and Illinois' voter registration databases.2 These actions were intended to sow
distrust in the American electoral and political processes, harm Hillary Clinton's
electoral prospects or at least to diminish Clinton's potential effectiveness as
* Brumley Next Generation Senior Graduate Fellow, Intelligence Studies Project, Robert S.
Strauss Center for International Security and Law. B.A. 2013, Rice University; J.D. and
Master of Public Affairs Candidate 2018, The University of Texas School of Law and Lyndon
B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. Eric Manpearl previously served as a Summer Law Clerk
with the Office of the General Counsel at the Defense Intelligence Agency, Legal Counsel
Division of the Office of the General Counsel at the Department of Homeland Security, and
Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice. The views expressed in this article are
those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of
Defense or the U.S. Government.
' Eric Lipton et al., The Perfect Weapon: How Russian Cyberpower Invaded the US.,
N.Y. TIMES (Dec. 13, 2016), http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/13/us/politics/russia-hack-
election-dnc.html? r-0.
2 Sari Horwitz et al., DHS Tells States About Russian Hacking During 2016 Election,
WASH. POST (Sept. 22,2017), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/dhs-
tells-states-about-russian-hacking-during-2016-election/2017/09/22/fd263a2c-9fe2- 11 e7-
8eal-ed975285475e story.html [https://perma.cc/QWE9-CR74]; Ellen Nakashima, Russian
Hackers Targeted Arizona Election System, WASH. POST (Aug. 29, 2016),
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-is-investigating- foreign-hacks-
of-state-election-systems/2016/08/29/6e758ff4-6e00-11 e6-8365-b19e428a975estory.html
[http://perma.cc/9FP5-FRN9].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/jstl24&div=8&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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