Wyden seeks cyber info from voting machine makers

WASHINGTON (AP) – A U.S. senator wants to know how well prepared the country’s top voting machine manufacturers are against hackers.
 
In letters shared with The Associated Press, Sen. Ron Wyden asks the CEOs of six election technology firms to answer a range of questions detailing how they protect sensitive voter data and test their own internal security systems.
 
The Oregon Democrat says public faith in American election infrastructure is “more important than ever before.”
 
That’s an apparent reference to a Department of Homeland Security assessment that Russian government hackers targeted election systems in 21 states last year. Some state officials have since disputed that assessment.
 
In the wake of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign, federal officials designated elections systems as critical infrastructure like power plants or electrical grids.